Flying Through the Stars
by EmberXMystery
Summary: Shiro is just starting out at the Garrison with his roommates Adam. He's meeting new people and trying to sort out his own life on top of everything. ADASHI.
1. First Day

Shiro~

Finally.

It was finally his first day at school.

Shiro couldn't wait to see what the Garrison looked like from the inside.

His sofu had told him that he had to report on every minute detail and couldn't leave anything out.

"Sofu," he had complained, flopping onto his lap and looking up at him with glittering eyes, "I can't report on _everything_. That would just be too much! Plus," he dropped his voice to a whisper and cupped a hand to his mouth, "There may be _secret_ missions."

Sofu had ruffled his hair with a smirk. "Alright, Takashi. Whatever you say. I just can't believe that you won't be living with me anymore."

Shiro smiled, "It will be okay, Sofu. I'll come to visit a lot."

In truth, Shiro knew that his grandfather was relieved that he was leaving. Not because he disliked Shiro! Not at all. Sofu loved Shiro with all of his heart.

Shiro just knew that… money was tight. And Sofu was getting older and older and soon wouldn't be able to work very well.

So when he had heard about the Garrison dorms, he had been ecstatic.

Plus, this way, he would get to meet new people and try new things. And he would get to _fly_. And maybe, just maybe, he would get to go up into _space_.

The first thing he would do would be to find his dorm room and unpack the few things he had. And maybe he would get to meet his roommate.

He wondered what his roommate would be like. Would he be some weirdo? Would he be super chill with everything? Would he be the kind of person to go to parties all of the time and be getting drunk at fifteen? Would he be the one so reserved that he got 10 hours of sleep every night or something?

Shiro shook his head. There was no point in ruffling his mind with negative ideas. It would be best to try to just go in with an open mind. Maybe he would make a new friend right away.

He scanned the list of dorm rooms and spotted his name. His room was A306.

Shiro bit his lip nervously as he headed up to the third floor and down the A wing. Before he knew it, he was outside of the dormroom. Shiro paused, collecting himself, inhaling deeply, before he grabbed the handle and turned it open.

Inside, he expected to see half of the room occupied by things on the wall and clothes from a suitcase. Or maybe multiple suitcases. He expected to see someone sitting at the desk or on the bed, typing away at a computer and waving awkwardly to him as he walked in.

He saw none of that.

Instead, the room was empty. Barren. He had apparently beaten his roommate to arriving.

Awkwardly, Shiro closed the door behind him with a soft _click_ and set his bag down on one of the beds. He chose the bed that was closer to the door and had a dresser at the foot and a side table by the head. There were two desks across the room that were side by side.

Frowning slightly, Shiro decided to move his desk to be closer to his bed. There was just enough room, if he got rid of the side table, for the desk to fit.

He knew that he should unpack. It would be easier to just get everything out of his bag and lay it out. But that would make everything… permanent. A weight dropped in his chest. He almost didn't want to think about it.

At that moment, the door opened, halting him from having to think about it anymore.

He watched tentatively as noise erupted into the room. An older woman carrying two bags under her arms walked in first, in the middle of a conversation with the man behind her. She had slightly darker skin, brown hair dyed blonde at the tips and swirled up into a bun. She was on the larger size of average and rather tall, and for Shiro, that was saying something.

The man behind her was a little shorter with short dark hair and the same darker skin tone. He wore circular glasses on the tip of his nose that reminded Shiro of spectacles. He was only carrying one bag with him but he still looked tired. He was a much thinner, wiry man who looked a little disheveled.

Finally, behind them, a boy who looked about Shiro's age came in, lugging a suitcase behind him. He had wavy light brown hair, square glasses, the same kind of skin tone as his parents, and he was sort of short compared to his parents. The thing that Shiro noticed the most about the boy was the fact that he was wearing a white button up and a purple tie with some nice black pants and plain tennis shoes.

His parents looked around the room and the mother's eyes fell on Shiro.

She broke into a wide grin, dropped the bags she was holding and rushed over to Shiro.

"Well, would you look at that, Pumpkin! Your roommate's already here!"

Shiro blushed at the sudden attention, not knowing what to do. The woman grabbed his hand in both of hers and shook it excitedly. "Nice to meet you, I'm Mrs. White. And this is my son here," she let go of his hand to grab the boy by the arm. He had been standing still, ducking his head and avoiding Shiro's eye.

The boy looked at Shiro and quietly said, "Hi. I'm… I'm Adam. What's your name?"

Shiro gulped. He remembered how he and Sofu had talked about using a different name. An easier name. Most people wouldn't want to learn Takashi. Plus, although Shiro didn't care about it too much, he rather didn't want random people calling him by his first name. "Um… Takashi Shirogane. But please, call me Shiro."

He smiled weakly at the boy-Adam. This was the person he would be spending at least the next year with. He had to be nice and hope that they got along.

Adam smiled back at him and took his hand to shake it gently. "Nice to meet you," he said, his voice soft and calming.

"Would you like us to help you unpack?" Mrs. White asked Adam. Mr. White was hovering awkwardly behind, fiddling with the zipper on one of the suitcases.

Adam glanced between his parents and then at Shiro. "No… I think I'd just like to do it."

"Alright then, Pumpkin," Mrs. White said, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.

Shiro felt a soft pang of sadness. He missed Sofu and he… he couldn't remember a time when his mom had kissed his head. But… he had decided a long time ago that he was okay with that.

Mr. White stepped up to his son and gave him a one armed hug. He whispered something into Adam's ear. Something that made Adam smile and roll his eyes. "I'll be fine, Dad. Don't worry. I'll call, et cetera, et cetera." He walked them towards the door, smiling but clearly ready for them to leave.

"Okay," his mom said, "Have a good time, Pumpkin. We love you. And it was nice meeting you… uh…"

"Shiro," Shiro supplied for her.

"It was nice meeting you, Shiro," she smiled and walked out the door with Mr. White close behind her. "Call us if you need anything, Adam. We love you!"

"Love you, too," Adam said closing the door on his parents while waving to them down the hallway.

As soon as the door clicked shut, there was a breath of silence.

"Phew," Adam sighed, lowering his head and closing his eyes. "I'm glad they're gone."

He stood up and walked over towards the other bed, the one across the room from Shiro's, and leaned against his bed, his hands behind him on the mattress and his legs crossed on the ground.

Shiro remained quiet. He didn't know what to say. Would it be a good thing to ask questions? Should they try to bond? Or would Adam rather him stay quiet?

"Did your parents just leave?" Adam asked softly. "I felt like I couldn't get mine out fast enough."

Shiro shifted awkwardly. His voice didn't seem to work. Should he tell the truth? Shake his head?

Adam waited, his dark eyes looking at Shiro, sizing him up. Shiro lifted his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Um, yeah. They… they aren't much for goodbyes."

Adam nodded, accepting Shiro's lie.

There was another beat of silence. Shiro knew that he should say something. He knew that he should ask Adam something or try to further their conversation. But no words would escape his stupid dead mouth.

"Um, so… Takashi…" Adam said quietly. "That's an interesting name."

It felt weird to hear anyone other than Sofu calling him Takashi, though, Shiro had to admit that he was rather impressed that Adam remembered. "Just… just call me Shiro."

Adam nodded again. "Alright, Shiro. Still an interesting name."

Shiro took a deep breath. This was his chance. He just had to speak. "Um… it's… I'm japanese."

"Cool, cool," Adam replied. "I'm Brazilian, if you were wondering. Does… does you name mean anything?"

Shiro smiled, "Interestingly, Shirogane means 'white metal.'"

Adam laughed. His laugh was soft and reserved but still loud and joyful, "Ha! Both of our last names are White. That's fantastic."

The tension seemed to dissolve between them. Shiro smiled and chuckled to himself too, bowing his head.

"Yeah, that's pretty ironic."

Adam stood up, still smiling. "I should probably unpack." He gestured to the bags on the ground. "So… I'll take this half and you take that half?"

"Um, sure," Shiro said, trying to add enthusiasm into his voice instead of uncertainty.

Adam swallowed and walked over to the first bag, picking it up onto the bed and opening it.

Shiro jolted himself off of the mattress and onto the ground. He figured that he should unpack too. Maybe if he unpacked slowly enough then Adam wouldn't notice how few of _things_ he had comparatively.

"Only one bag?" Adam asked, sounding curious instead of judgemental.

"Yeah…" Shiro sighed, fumbling for a good lie.

"That's nice. Then you don't have to worry about everything and can just start over. I swear, my mom packed most of this. I don't even know what's in here."

"Sure, I suppose," Shiro shrugged. He began unpacking his few possessions into a the dresser. The only things he had that weren't clothes was a single journal, a pack of pencils, a comp book for school, a blanket, and his phone. He looked shyly at Adam as he laid the blanket on the mattress, hoping he wouldn't notice the missing pillow. Shiro knew that he could ask Sofu for one the next time he came to visit. That would only be a week or two at most.

Shiro sat down to watch Adam unpack. He pulled out plenty of clothes to go into the dresser, a lamp on the desk, school books and pens and pencils. He even pulled out a plastic bag full of pictures that he began to pin up by his bed.

Shiro felt kind of weird to not have that many things, but at the same time, like Adam had said, he got to have a new start. He was excited to be able to start fresh.

And then Adam glanced over at Shiro's barren corner. "What? Shiro… do you not have a pillow?"

Shiro blushed, looking down at his hands, "I… uh, forgot. But I'll get Sofu to bring one later. Don't… worry."

Adam raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest. Once again, he was leaning against the mattress with his legs crossed.

Instead of saying anything about the pillow, he gestured to the empty mattress with the bundle of sheets tossed on top of it. "Would you help me?"

It took a moment for Shiro to respond and then he stood up and grabbed one end of the sheets Adam was holding and moved towards Adam's mattress.

Together, they fought with the sheets, climbing on the mattress and pulling them every which way. At one point, Shiro got his arm caught between the wall and the Mattress. "Adam! Adam! I'm stuck! Gah!"

Adam had stepped back while Shiro struggled, he was laughing softly, into his hand. Shiro watched as he raised up his phone to his eye. "Adam," Shiro warned, "Don't you dare take a picture."

He took a picture.

After they had removed Shiro from the wall, they managed to pull the sheets down and across the mattress until the ends were tucked under the bottom and the sheet was finally attached.

"Finally," Shiro sighed, breathing heavily. Adam had his hands over his head in a stretch as he took deep breaths.

"I swear, my mom doesn't make it look that hard but, geez, that was _hard,_ " Adam murmured between breaths of air. He glanced at Shiro. "Time to do yours?"

Shyly, he shook his head, "No… I just brought a blanket. I didn't want to deal with all of that," he gestured towards Adam's now sheet covered mattress.

"You didn't bring a pillow did you," Adam said. It wasn't a question.

Suddenly Shiro was struck in the face by a large white pillow. It fell to the floor with a dull _plump_ as Shiro took a surprised step backwards.

"You were supposed to catch that," Adam told him.

Shiro bit his lip, bending down to pick up the pillow. He didn't know what to say. Was this for him to use? Was Adam giving him his pillow? "I… can't possibly—"

"Shiro, I have three. Take one."

So Shiro took the pillow and placed it on the bed.

Adam nodded in satisfaction.

Shiro paused, "Um… should we go see what our schedules are?"

"Sure," Adam agreed.

"What are you aiming for?" Shiro asked as he walked towards the door, making sure to grab his room key along the way.

"Pilot," Adam answered simply. "I want to fly the ships, be in complete control, and just be able to just fly though the sky. Or the stars. How about you?"

"Same," Shiro smiled. "I want to be able to lead a mission out of earth. Maybe we'll even get to go to a new planet."

"And find alien life?" Adam scoffed sceptically.

"I don't know. Maybe." Shiro had always thought it would be so cool to find alien life. But he also was afraid that humans would come in and dominate everything. Or that said alien life would be hostile and would destroy earth in a heartbeat.

"Well, you can go find some aliens," Adam told Shiro. "I want to be one of the best pilots though. I want to be the one that everyone wants to hire because I'm such a good pilot."

"That's quite the goal." Shiro just wanted to be a pilot enough that he could make it. He just wanted to be in that group that was good enough to _be a pilot_.

The pair of them rounded a corner to find a line of students about their age all waiting in line and crowding around papers pinned up to the walls.

"I'm guessing that you have to stand in line," Shiro said slowly.

Adam nodded. He wasn't smiling anymore but neither was he frowning. He looked reluctant, though, as though he didn't want to deal with such a large crowd of people. Shiro agreed with him on that front.

They stood in line, watching all of the people around them. It was too loud to talk but some students were still trying to talk over the din of noise while also not being overheard by passersby.

It was strange and yet sort of beautiful to watch the mass of teenagers awkwardly congregated together.

When Shiro got up to the desk, a man with a nice smile, greying hair, and spectacles greeted him. "Hiya! I'm Sam Holt. I'll be your engineering teacher here at the Garrison. What might your name be?"

"Um… Shirogane."

"Shi...ro...ga...ne…" Mr. Holt said as he flipped through papers until he found Shiro's. Briefly he glanced at it. "Taka...shi… Takashi. Nice name," he handed to papers to Shiro.

"Just call me Shiro, please, Mr. Holt." Shiro sighed.

"Alright," he replied, "And how about you call me Sam? I know formalities and whatnot but Mr. Holt just makes me feel so old." He ran a hand through his hair and pinched a strand by the side of his head, "Though," he laughed, "I suppose I am."

Shiro nodded like an idiot and then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, Mr. H— Sam! I'm sorry! I just—"

"Oh don't worry about it, Shiro. Even my kids call me old. Did you know that my son is going to be in some of your classes?"

"Is-"

"Don't take that as some sort of threat, though, it could be if the situation called for it," he said in what Shiro hoped was a joking manner, "No, I just mean that I want to understand what you kids will be going through and I want to make you enjoy flying. Not be stuck doing homework 24/7."

Shiro smiled, "T-thank you, Sir— Sam."

"My pleasure," Sam said, saluting Shiro as he walked back a couple steps. He watched Adam get his schedule patiently. Once Adam joined him, he glanced down at his schedule to see what classes he would have.

Not much was written there. There would be three classes a day with alternating days.

On the first day, he had Engineering with Holt, S., Mathematics with Montegomery, L., and Computer programing with Dos Santos, J.

The second day, he started out with Flight Training with Iverson, M., Combat with Sanda, A., and finally History with Hendrick, T.

After comparing with Adam, he found that they were in all of the same classes.

"Oh, that's cool," Adam commented quietly. "At least I'll know someone in my classes."

"Yeah!" Shiro agreed. He was glad that he and Adam would get to hand out more.

"Well, yeah," a girl behind them, who had long black hair and rounded glasses, said. "All of us are in the same class. You're paired with your roommate and the teachers just go to teach one lesson per day so there's only two classes technically."

Shiro nodded. "Oh, that's… interesting."

"So, what are your names?" the girl asked, pushing the glasses up her nose. "I'm Lilli."

"Adam," Adam said softly, shaking her hand.

"Shiro."

Lilli nodded. "Alright. Well, I'll be seeing you." she turned around, he black hair flaring out behind her, and turned to leave.

"That… was odd," Adam commented to Shiro. Shiro nodded, his eyes wide.

They started heading back to their dorm room, deciding that they didn't feel like being social with the other students.

Shiro was glad to have Adam. He could tell that they would be good friends. They already had so much in common.

And hopefully Adam felt the same way. Then, they could sit by each other and have someone to be partnered with during group projects. Though Shiro wanted to branch out and meet new people, with so much _new_ around him, it would be nice to have someone of familiarity.

It would be nice to start off with a friend.

* * *

Note: I'm challenging myself to update this once a week or so. This will be a SLOWBURN as it goes through multiple years of Shiro's life. It will also be a little while before Shiro starts to feel any romantic attraction towards Adam. :) Comments and favorites are very appreciated!


	2. F U N

Shiro~

Shiro didn't know what to expect for class his first day.

He sat next to Adam in class, thankfully, waiting for the teacher to arrive. He was kind of glad that Sam Holt would be his engineering teacher. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, if a bit odd.

But Shiro was most glad to have someone he knew beside him.

He and Adam had spent most of the prior evening talking. They hadn't realized how late they had been talking until Shiro glanced at his phone and saw it was after midnight. In a fit of laughter, they had panicked to get to bed and fall asleep.

In those couple hours, though, Shiro had learned so much about Adam. He had learned that Adam was the oldest with two younger sisters (twins) in his family.

"My parents used to tell me that one day my mom just walked in to my dad and told him 'Well, um, so I'm pregnant.' Adam laughed as he described how his father had fallen off of his chair in shock.

"And my sisters were no more planned. And them being twins," Adam chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "That most certainly wasn't planned."

Shiro loved looking at the pictures Adam had brought. He had such a loving and yet relaxed family. There was a picture of them at amusement parks all squished together with Adam taking selfies of the group. There was a picture of Adam crying in outrage and shock as his sisters tackled him with popsicles still in their mouths getting the sticky liquid stuck in Adam's hair. There was a picture Adam had taken of his sisters trying to braid his parents' hair, his sister Ellois struggling to put a million tiny braids in their father's hair while his other sister Odina worked on an elaborate braid with their mother. The following picture was of both of them braiding a scowling Adam's hair.

And Adam told Shiro the stories for each one. He told him about his sisters and how quirky they were and how much he loved them.

And then, the conversation had turned. "So what's your family like?"

Shiro had swallowed. He had told himself that he would lie and just make up stories about his parents or something, but, faced with Adam's smiling face, he found that more difficult than he had expected to.

"Oh, you know. I have those hard-working parents who never really seem to be around," Shiro said as the understatement of the year. He didn't remember his parents. He had always hoped that Sofu would tell him that he had been lying the whole time when he talked about his mother and father and how they...

How Sofu had decided to take Shiro in.

"I have my sofu though," Shiro said softly. "He's sweet and kind and wonderful. So are my parents!" he said hurriedly, "We just don't... go do stuff all that often. We more or less just stay at home and go through the day."

Adam seemed to know that something was up but he didn't press any further. Shiro was grateful for that.

Still, the evening was wonderful and Shiro felt so much closer to Adam. He could feel that they were going to be fast friends, if they weren't already.

And that made it nice to have someone to talk to at the start of class while a lot of the kids sat around staring absently.

Suddenly, the door burst open, halting all conversations immediately, "Heeelllo! Kidddooos!" Sam said as he walked in carrying a large cardboard box in his arms. A kid with messy brown hair, slightly longer than most of the students and big round glasses jumped out of his seat to help Sam. A couple of the kids muttered "showoff," or "teacher's pet."

Shiro felt kind of bad for the kid but the mockery didn't appear to be too bad. Yet. And he did kind of deserve it… for getting up so quickly.

"Thank you, Matt," Sam said as the two of them set down the box.

"No problem, Dad," Matt said just loud enough that most of the class could hear.

 _Oh_ , Shiro thought, staring at the boy, _this is who Sam's son is._ Maybe their relationship in the classroom wouldn't be so bad?

Matt took his seat again and Sam stood up at the front of the room, leaning on the desk behind him. "Well hello there everyone. My name's Samuel Holt. But please, just call me Sam. Unless Commander Iverson or someone walks in," Sam winked at the shocked class.

"I'm just joking. Don't worry. You guys are good here!"

The class remained silent once again.

Sam shook his head and laughed, "Alright. I suppose I'm supposed to give you guys the run down of things but how about this: I'm going to going to play a game with everyone. I need everyone's participation, though. Do you guys want to participate in a game or listen to me lecture boringly for an hour or whatever?"

Silence.

Sam sighed, "All in favor of the game?"

A handful of tentative hands rose up.

"Lecture?"

One kid raised her hand but quickly dropped it when she realized that no one was in support of the idea.

Sam nodded, "That's what I thought." He walked behind the desk to where an orange board lined the wall. With a small stick, he drew in a couple of lines in a shape like a blocky upside down J and then put some dashes next to it.

"Hangman?" One kid muttered and the rest started to murmur in intrigue, as well.

"Yes Hangman. I'm going to think of a word, and then you guys have to guess it and then I'll explain the word."

Everyone nodded.

"I'll draw all the things on our guy here so there is no limit to the number of guesses. Well, I guess 26 but that's just on principle. So, who has the first guess?"

It was slow going at first with not many students being willing to participate. Adam seemed really excited, jumping at the opportunity to play the game.

The first word, three letters, was FUN.

"Okay, so 'fun,'" Sam said as he erased the student's misguessed letters. "I want to make this class, engineering, fun. I want to make your whole stay at the Garrison fun. That's my first priority."

He set up a word that was five blanks long. With more students participating, the word was deciphered faster: RULES.

"Rules rules rules," Sam sighed. "I don't like them but we have to have them. Okay so first, please please please don't be late. Don't take my nice attitude for something that you can take for granted. I'm sure Matt can tell you about how quick I can turn 'strict.' Don't mess with equipment when you aren't' meant to. We might be working with dangerous stuff and I can't let you messing with stuff if it could hurt you. Um, what else?"

He went through late work, absences, bathroom policy, and other basic classroom rules and then set up another hangman. ENGINEERING, which, because of the e's was guessed fairly quickly.

"Okay so, what is this course? This is one of the three parts of a team we need for missions. You all know Pilot because... Pilot. But then you have an engineer and a computer tech. Computer techs would be the person who would 'adjust the sail' or 'check the compass'. That sort of thing. Coordinates, location, time, etc. Engineering, however, is vital. It may not seem like it, but it is. The engineer fixes stuff when stuff goes wrong and when you are out in space, the last thing you want is to have something blow out when you don't have an engineer. Engineers need to be quick and resourceful. And this first year, and next year too, you will be subject to intensive engineer training so that, a: if you become an engineer you can start doing that. And b: if your engineer is not able to work, then you pilots and techs can still maybe do some small stuff to help."

The next word was GARRISON.

"The Garrison, as you probably know, is a military space program," Sam explained. "We work for both protecting earth and for exploring the vast expanses of our galaxy. This stuff is actually quite serious and only the best in each of their chosen specialites will be able to be certified. Pilot is usually the most fought over spots so let me just say this now: If you don't make it, that's fine, just know that you'll be downgraded to a cargo pilot."

Adam leaned over to Shiro, "Are you worried?"

Shiro humed pensively. "I don't know. I did well of the simulator but that doesn't mean that I'll do well on flying myself."

Adam nodded, "Same. I guess we'll have to see."

Sam went through the rules of the dorms (boys and girls staying out of each others dorms, only can be let in if invited in, keep your key with you, etc.) he talked about the course design and some of the things they would learn (what to fix, how to fix it, etc.) and he talked a bit about his own life experience, describing how he had been good at engineering as a student their age and how he was continuing with his passion now. He even gave them some warnings about Iverson and Sanda and how they could be as a whole.

Afterwards, he looked at the clock and said, "Well, that took a nice chunk of time. We have about forty five minutes left. So first, I want to get to know all of you," the class groaned, "I know, I know. So that's why I want to make this interesting. How well do you guys know your roommates?"

As a unit, the class shrugged.

"Okay, well, we are playing 20 questions abridged. This is going to be five questions, anything you want, and you just have to answer truthfully. Then, from that, you and your roommate devise a 'two truths and a lie' and we'll share those with the class, okay? So only your roommate will know the 'lie' and it should be based on your five questions but doesn't have to be. Ready? Begin!"


	3. Questions

Adam~

The class was silent. No one moved or spoke a word.

Softly, Adam turned to Shiro and whispered, "So… do we get started?"

Shiro shrugged. He looked a little nervous, if Adam was being honest. A little bead of sweat slipping down the side of his face. "Yeah," he murmured, "Do… do you want to start?"

"Not particularly," Adam said breezily, "but I will."

He had to think for a minute, trying to decide what to ask Shiro. He could ask deep things and try to figure out the _core_ of who Shiro is, or he could be a bit nicer and set a calmer tone for their questions.

"Shiro," Adam asked, leaning onto his roommate's desk with one arm propping his head up. "What…" pause for effect, "is your favorite color?"

"Um," Shiro looked down at the ground, unsure. "Uh… I don't know that I really have a preference. I kind of like all of the colors."

Adam sighed, "No favorite? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple…"

"Shouldn't it be Indigo and Violet?" Shiro asked, looking up at the ceiling.

Adam whacked Shiro's arm semi-gently. "Bah, no one says that. Everyone just says purple. Do you have a problem with Purple?"

"No," Shiro laughed, rubbing his arm absently, "I quite like the color Purple."

"Fine, your favorite color is purple," Adam told him.

Shiro nodded, "Okay. What's your favorite color then?"

Adam opened his mouth, ready to respond and then closed it again. _Shoot._ He hadn't thought that far in advance.

"Ooh!" Shiro teased, "Do you not have a favorite after teasing _me_ for not having a favorite?"

"I do have a favorite," Adam said stubbornly, "I… like the color… um… black," he said hurriedly. Honestly, he didn't know what his favorite color was. Black was the first thing that came to mind.

"Black?"Shiro said skeptically. "While it is a fine color, I think that you should choose a color that is not… void of color."

"Okay fine, purple then," Adam said in a hurry.

"You don't have a favorite, either, do you?" Shiro raised one eyebrow.

Adam scowled. "Fine, maybe not. Next question. It's your turn."

"Hmm," Shiro hummed while he looked upwards. "When… is your birthday?"

Adam watched Shiro pale immediately upon the words leaving his mouth, "Wait. No, let's do a different one."

Normally, Adam would be fine with switching the question. It was kind of a boring one anyway. But Shiro's panic and insistence made him want to know the answer even more.

"No, no," Adam protested. "I want to know why you are so scared of this question. My birthday's June 14th. Now you have to tell me yours."

"Ooh, a summer birthday," Shiro said, trying to distract Adam.

Adam just raised an eyebrow, waiting for Shiro to crack.

He sighed and lowered his head in defeat. "Fine. My birthday is February 29th."

Adam paused, thinking things through in his head, doing some quick math. "So…. you are almost four years old! That's fantastic! This year we'll have to throw a huge party to celebrate!"

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Yes, ha ha," he muttered dryly.

"Best news of the day," Adam told him. "Though, that's a good two truths and a lie. Most everyone will peg that as you are just really bad at the lie part. Especially if you phrase it appropriately."

"Yeah! You're right!" Shiro agreed.

"Of course I am. Now, Question three: what was the most eventful thing that happened last year?"

Shiro's eyes widened as he stared at his desk. "Um… I don't know. Some kids at my school released a skunk into the air ducts? They had to close the school for two days until they could find it."

Adam laughed so hard he snorted. "Wow. That… that is glorious. I love it."

"How about you?" Shiro said, laughing himself.

"So I was going to say something like Ellois broke her arm and we stayed in the hospital for two days or something about that, but your story is so much better than mine. Um… let me think. I guess there was this one time, last year, where my school held a pie throwing contest. You can imagine how well that went."

Shiro laughed softly. He had a nice laugh; pleasant to listen to. "That's a pretty good one," he said lightly.

"Five minutes left!" Sam called out cheerily.

"Uh oh," Shiro sighed. "We still need to come up with the two truths and a lie."

"Okay," Adam said, "How about this: I went bird watching this summer with my mom. I have gone rafting down the Amazon river. And I built a treehouse for my sisters."

Shiro paled, "What's the lie?"

Adam smirked at him, proud to have fooled him. "The birdwatching. Now don't give me away when I announce that."

Shiro nodded resolutely. "Okay. How about for mine I'll say that I don't have a favorite color, my mom took me to Disney World over the summer, and I am not fifteen years old." Shiro smiled at the last one, making it seem more like the lie.

"So wait," Adam said, thinking through what Shiro had just said. "Your mom didn't take you to Disney?"

"No," Shiro said somewhat awkwardly. "She doesn't… do those kinds of things with me."

Adam recognized when he shouldn't press. He knew that he was breaching into that uncomfortable category of Shiro's family, but he couldn't help but be curious, despite wanting to respect Shiro's privacy.

Nervously, he glanced at the clock. He thought that they still had a couple minutes before Sam called time so he decided to ask another question. "So… Shiro… what's your family like?"

He knew he was pressing. He knew he was. But he was _so_ curious what made Shrio so antsy every time that he mentioned his family.

"Um… I guess my mom and dad aren't really around. My sofu, uh my grandfather, takes care of me though. I'm glad for that. He's really sweet and wonderful."

Adam nodded. He had already gleaned that much information from Shiro. He wanted to know more about his mom. His dad. Did he have siblings?

"How about you?" Shiro said quickly, before Adam could press any further. Frowning, he replied, "Well my mom can be kind of bossy sometimes and my dad is pretty passive, but they are still good." He lowered his face, staring at his hands. "Though, I'm surprised they aren't divorced. I keep expecting it."

Shiro didn't respond.

"I know… I know that they love each other. But things aren't like they used to be. And I'm worried that me being gone will change things too much for them to be okay staying together. And my sisters are going to high school soon. And they are going to seclude themselves more. Maybe they will still talk to me. Ellois agrees with me. Odina is so sure that they are going to stay together—"

He stopped talking. "I'm sorry, Shiro." He hadn't meant to lay on all of his worries on the roommate he barely knew. Sure he was trying to make an active effort to get to know Shiro… but he guessed that it was just easy to talk to someone who didn't really know him. Someone who wasn't that close.

"No, Adam. It's okay," Shiro assured him. He lowered his head, closing his eyes. "My… my mom and dad aren't around."

"You…" Adam started to say slowly.

"As in, I don't know what they look like. I haven't seen them since I was really young."

"Shiro… I—"

"Alright! Time's up!" Sam announced.

Adam glanced back at Shiro. Why had they both just shared something extremely personal? Why had they decided to talk? Would this bring them closer as friends? Would they feel more distant?

Shiro swallowed. Adam wanted to comfort him. He didn't know how. Gently, slowly, he placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze before releasing it.

His mom had always taught him to be kind like that.

Sam called the groups to stand up and present their two truths and a lie one at a time. The catch was that the roommate had to announce what the lie was. Not the student.

Most were fairly easy to guess as a class, but their were a few that tripped people up. When it got to Shiro's turn he played his age one perfectly, shrugging and looking awkward while he was confident in the other two.

Once they were done with the game, Sam congratulated them on all having done well to get to know each other and their roommates. Right as he was finishing up his speech, the bell rang and everyone got up to go to their next class.

While Adam and Shiro walked together and sat together, they didn't talk much to each other. A part of Adam wanted to bring it up while the other part of him wanted it to fade into the past.

The other two classes went by much more monotonously. Mathematics were never Adam's strong suit and he didn't think he was cut out for computer tech either. Both of his teachers were fairly nice, but they were nothing like Sam. They were the traditional teachers who made them learn all of the rules in a lecture and then had some small assignment for them to do in partners. Naturally, Shiro and Adam partnered up because it only made sense to.

After Math, they had a break for lunch and then finished out their day. They could go to the dining hall to eat dinner whenever they felt like it, but until then, they had free reign to do what they pleased.

And although Adam was torn about weather to talk to Shiro or not, the silence of the afternoon sealed the deal in his mind.

As soon as they got back to their dorm room, Adam set his bag down by his bed and sat on the edge of the bed. "So… can I ask you something?"


	4. I want to know

Shiro~

"What is it?" Shiro swallowed thickly, anxiety boiling in his stomach as he waited to see what Adam was going to ask him.

"I don't mean to be insensitive," Adam said, pacing around as he clasped his hands in front of him, "But I really am curious and, as your hopeful friend, I would like to request that you explain your family situation to me?"

Shiro sat on his bed in shocked silence for a minute. First, he was surprised that Adam cared enough after knowing him for only a day, to ask about what his family life was like, but second of all, the way that Adam had phrased it was so weird and different that it threw Shiro off guard. He started to laugh softly, chuckling though he knew it was kind of rude.

"What?" Adam asked, sounding slightly offended.

"Nothing, nothing," Shiro protested. "I just thought that the way you phrased that sentence was funny. That's all."

"Oh," Adam said quietly. He stopped pacing to dig the toe of his shoe into the lightly carpeted ground. "I do that whenever I get nervous. I start to panic and talk in a very proper manner and I'm not sure why I do it but I do."

Shiro nodded. "Okay. Well I'm sorry for laughing. I just found it amusing."

"So... would you answer my question?" Adam asked again, tentatively and slowly this time,

Shiro nodded. "Let me just say, to start, Thank you."

He didn't know how he was going to talk about his life but it seemed like thanking Adam was the good place to start.

"Why?" Adam said softly. He took a seat on the bed and twiddled his fingers together while listening to Shiro.

"Because I have known quite a few people in my life but almost none of them- scratch that- none of them have stopped to ask me what my family life is like because they all just believed my made up story that I gave them. And I never had the confidence to go tell people because it always just seemed like something that was a part of my own life and my own problems.

"So thank you, Adam," Shiro smiled over at him kindly.

Adam nodded lightly. "I'm... I'm surprised. Sorry, but, you don't exactly lie about it very well. And, besides, if we are going to be roommates the whole year, I want us to be friends who can go to each other with our problems and be able to talk and help each other."

Shiro smiled, "Yeah! That sounds awesome!"

"So... let me help?" Adam asked softly.

Shiro took a sharp breath, preparing to destroy the flood gate that held back all of his family secrets. "I... didn't have a bad life. But... my mom and dad were never around. Sofu was never very clear on whether they had died in a car wreck or if they had just left him with their newborn child. Either way, they weren't around and didn't care to be. So my Sofu raised me."

Shrio smiled despite everything. He never really missed his family because, how can you miss something that you don't know?

"Sofu was amazing. Sweet, kind. Everything that I think a parent should be. He was one of the very few people who seemed to genuinely care for me and I guess that's what got me to keep going through everything. Though, because he was old, he wasn't paid much so I did what I could to raise some extra money for him so that we could eat and I could go to school."

Shiro glanced up at Adam, knowing that he was looking at their rooms and how much Adam had with him compared to how much Shiro had brought.

"We did okay though. And I managed to get a scholarship to go here, the Garrison," Shiro smiled at Adam. "I'm kind of relieved honestly. I love my Sofu, but I hate watching his struggle to keep a smile on his face when he couldn't even put food on the table very easily."

Shiro paused, waiting to see if Adam would react negatively. He didn't really want to be pitied or to have Adam start gushing over what a hard life Shiro had had.

"Shrio," Adam breathed.

Shiro watched him like a hawk, staring at his expression to watch for any sign of reaction. But Adam stood up. He stood up and walked over to where Shiro was. Gently, He wrapped his arms around Shiro. "I'm sorry that I didn't know. And I'm sorry that your life wasn't amazing. But you are so very strong for doing all of that for your sofu without being asked to." He pulled away from the hug and Shiro's body felt much colder and emptier without Adam there.

"Th-thanks?" Shiro stuttered.

"No, I'm serious!" Adam protested. "You have to be the kindest person ever to let your grandfather retire while you go to school and let him grow old without you being there to impede on his mind. ... That sounded wrong. I mean, I know he loves you, but not having to work every day when he's that old must be nice."

"That's what I was thinking," Shiro agreed.

After a pause, Shiro's mind switched to thinking about Adam's family. ""So... you think that your parents are really going to..."

"Split? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I think that they would honestly be happier if they split up," Adam sighed heavily. "It sucks because you want them to just split up nicely and then be happier separate, but... they're your parents so at the same time, you want them to be there together and forever prevail and be like those movie characters that seem just perfect for each other."

Shiro put a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I... I'm sorry. But maybe... maybe things will all work out. Maybe everything will be fine and you won't have to worry about it."

"That would be nice."

Adam leaned back on Shiro's bed and sighed contentedly.

"Shiro... thank you for telling me. Thank you for trusting me and talking to me."

"Yeah!" Shiro smiled. "Likewise."

"I'm glad that we are talking like this. Maybe we really can become close friends in the future."

"If we aren't too competitive trying to become pilots," Shiro smiled slyly.

"True. I'll just have to try to beat you so that I can be number one."

"Good luck. You'll need it." Shiro held out his hand for Adam to shake.

Adam grabbed his hand and shook it twice, determination sparkling in his eyes. "May the best man win."


	5. The Simulator

Adam~

"Attention, Cadets!" Commander Iverson commanded.

Adam and Shiro stood side by side, both ridged in a salute. Adam felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. After yesterday, where their teachers were pretty chill, Commander Iverson _sounded_ like he was apart of the military. He was tall and bald and decked out in a military uniform outfitted with all kinds of medals and badges.

Adam didn't know the first thing about what they all meant, but Commander Iverson just _radiated_ power and control.

"This is the flight training class," Commander Iverson said loudly, his voice booming across the audience of kids.

"But I'm sure you knew that. If you didn't, it's probably best that you leave."

He paced in front of them, his one open eye glaring at each of them in turn. Adam swore he could hear Shiro gulp. Or maybe that was himself.

"Here, at the Garrison, we only take the best of the best. I'm sure that all of you want to be those 'super cool' pilots but in two years you will be evaluated on whether or not you are right for the pilot program."

Commander Iverson was close to them. Adam tried to keep the mild fear off of his face. The commander stopped in front of Adam and Shiro, his hands folded behind his back and his head held high.

He leaned down and Adam instinctively leaned back, his body still ridged, his arm getting tired from the held salute.

"What's your name, cadet?"

Adam swallowed, ready to answer.

"Takashi Shirogane. Shiro, sir."

Adam couldn't help but glance at Shiro. He was staring straight ahead, eyes unmoving and his face relaxed in what almost looked like boredom.

"Alright Tekeshi Shirogane. You look like you would just _love_ to make it into the military program."

"Yes, sir."

"You want to be the 'best of the best.'"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you had better LOOK at ME when I'M TALKING to YOU," Commander Iverson shouted.

Adam turned and glanced at Shiro. He was biting his lip but trying not to show any weakness. He tilted his head up to look at Commander Iverson.

"This program," the Commander shouted, stepping away from Shiro and addressing the whole class, "is designed to test you. Challenge you. All three of our programs are difficult and we expect you to be the best pilots, engineers, and computer techs that you can be. If not, you will find that you need to enroll in a new school. After the exam, you will be specially trained in the area of your choosing or in your area of default."

"And know this," Commander Iverson said, stopping in front of the class and facing them all, his voice echoing back from the back of the room. "We only accept five fighter/ navigation pilots. You will have to be _extremely_ good at what you do to continue on."

He waited, his words reverberating within everyone's mind. Adam swallowed thickly. He wanted to make it as a pilot. And so did Shiro. That was two of them. And they had a class of somewhere between thirty and forty. How many of them wanted to be pilots? How many of them were content with being an engineer? Or a computer tech?

He didn't know most of the people in his class and he didn't know what everyone wanted to be. What if they all wanted to be pilots? Would he be good enough to make it into the top five? Would Shiro be?

"Now!" Iverson shouted. "I see some sleepy faces so I'm sure you all want to wake up some. Give me twenty laps. GO GO GO."

Everyone panicked. A couple of the kids fell down in their haste to start moving. Adam scrambled to start moving, himself. After a minute or so, everyone had paced out at different points in the room, everyone running at different speeds.

Shiro was next to Adam as they ran. They had about the same speed, which thankfully wasn't very slow.

Adam glanced at Shiro. He wasn't panting or breathing heavy at all. He must have had great endurance.

Adam pushed the glasses up his nose and took a deep breath. "I bet I can lap you."

Shiro smirked, "Challenge accepted."

They broke out in a complete sprint, racing each other, weaving in and out of the other students. Adam forced air into his lungs as he forced his body forward.

Shiro began to pull ahead of him. Adam pushed himself to go a little faster. Just a little faster.

But Shiro moved quickly and without stop.

Adam ran as hard and as fast as he possibly could. He tried to pass Shiro but Shiro kept increasing his lead, foot by foot.

And then he stopped.

Shiro stopped running, or more like he slowed down to a walk and put his hands over his head.

Adam blew past him, laughing despite how winded he was. He did a lap around and paused when he passed Shiro. "Did you run out of energy? I totally lapped you!" Adam was genuinely excited to have finished his goal.

"Sure," Shiro smirked. "After I won."

"What?" Adam asked, gasping for breath. He could already feel the stitch in his side forming.

"Yep," Shiro grinned. "Congratulations, you ran 21 laps."

"UGHHHH!" Adam sighed in annoyance. "I thought you had run out of endurance and that was my chance to lap you."

"You did great at keeping up with me, though!" Shiro encouraged.

"Cadets," Commander Iverson said walking up behind them. "Congratulations," he said dryly. "You have won first and second place. But you didn't pace yourselves. Now, let me guess, you are winded and tired?"

"Yeah…." Adam admitted, quietly, and then, realizing his mistake, his eyes widened and he snapped to attention. "I mean, Yes, sir! I will remember to pace myself next time."

Commander Iverson nodded and then turned to Shiro. "And how about you, Tekeshi Shirogane."

"Um, Shiro, sir." he replied, standing at attention. "And I am not tired, sir. I believe that I have paced myself well."

"I see we have a go-getter already?" Commander Iverson mocked. "Well, you'd better not fall behind, then."

"Yes, sir," Shiro saluted.

By that time, most of the kids had finished their laps. Matt, Sam Holt's son, was still running his last few laps around. Adam kind of felt bad for the kid. He seemed like the type that only wanted to be an engineer or computer tech and didn't want to have to endure all of the piloting stuff. Lilli— the girl they had met on the first day- also, was still running laps but she seemed to be determinedly going at the same pace around and around, keeping her endurance going.

Commander Iverson called the cadets over and while they all caught their breath and drank water while still standing in formation lines, he gave them the rundown of the rules. He told them how to work the piloting simulators. He talked to them a little bit about his expectation of the exam and the class and their behaviour.

Adam got good at zoning out. He delve into his mind. He laughed at the idea of paying attention the whole time because, no matter how intimidating Commander Iverson was, he was still teaching them like every other boring teacher.

It was easy to tune out the yelling after not too much time.

But… then the students started moving and murmuring excitedly around each other.

Adam winced, _Crap. What did I miss?_

He looked to Shiro pleadingly.

"We get to go in the flight simulator drones for a bit!" he said excitedly. "I think it's the same as the entrance exam that we took, but I still think it'll be fun!"

"Yeah!" Adam cheered, walking quickly over to the simulators. Shiro got in line ahead of Adam. The simulator was the same one that they had used back in Adam's previous school to see who would be a good candidate to get into the Galaxy Garrison.

Adam was curious to see how Shiro would do. He seemed pretty confident in his flying, but no one was very good at the simulator. Adam himself had made it almost to the end of level four when he had crashed. He didn't know that he could get any farther this time around, though…

The other students got into the simulator one after the other. A lot crashed on level one or two. Matt barely made it halfway through level one. Lilli was surprisingly good and made it to the early parts of level four.

When it was Shiro's turn, Adam leaned up close to the chair, watching the screen intently to see how his roommate would do.

Shiro did fine on the first two levels, blazing through them like they were child's play.

On the third level, Adam noticed beads of sweat forming on Shiro's head. He made it through the third level, though, without a problem.

Adam could feel his shoulders tensing for Shiro as he began the fourth level. Shiro dodged and weaved through the asteroids, barely missing them at every turn.

But he made it through.

"YEAH!" Adam cheered as the que for level five started up. "Go Shiro!"

He saw Shiro smile thinly, nervous at the next level. His body was tense and his hands were shaky on the controls.

He dodged and weaved at _incredible_ speeds, racing through the asteroids faster than Adam thought was possible.

He was in the final stretch, about to move onto level six, when he hit an asteroid and the 'Failed Simulation' message came up.

"Aww," Adam sympathized.

"Man," Shiro sighed. "I didn't make it hardly any farther than i did the first time."

"What!" Adam exclaimed. "That's amazing, Shiro!"

Shiro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You think so?"

"Yes!" Adam reassured Shiro. "Well, I guess I'll just have to keep up with you."

Adam felt determined. He got into the simulator chair and started it up, feeling the cool grip of the controls, slightly worn from use, in his hands.

Adam took a deep breath, focusing himself and then started to race through the asteroids.

He made it through level one and two without a problem. Even level three was pretty easy.

"Go Adam!" he heard Shiro shout as he started level four.

His hands had tensed up and he felt the sweat begin to form on his face and in his palms. He was determined not to let that bother him though.

He almost crashed into an asteroid by the end but managed to pass it. Barely. Just barely.

"Yeah! Way to go!" Shiro shouted excitedly.

Adam felt excitement blooming in his chest. Maybe he was good enough to be on Shiro's level. Maybe, like Shiro, he could qualify to be a pilot. At this point, he really didn't think that Shiro had a chance of _not_ becoming a pilot, at least based on his initial flying skills.

But, alas, as soon as level five started, Adam crashed into an asteroid and the 'Failed Simulation' note flashed on the screen.

Adam sighed as he got out of the chair to let the next kid in.

"Hey, man," Shiro grinned, holding up his hand for a high-five, "that was awesome!"

Adam smiled and gave him the high-five. "Yeah! I even did better than I did on the entrance exam!"

"Nice going!" Shiro agreed excitedly.

Adam smirked, "Now, I'll just have to train a little harder so that I can beat you."

"And I'll have to train a little harder so I give you something to keep up with."

Adam nodded, satisfied with the idea.

Shiro would be a hard but good competitor. Adam would just have to push a little harder to keep up with him.


	6. Thirteen

Note: Gahhh I'm a day late. Sorrrry!

Anyway, I had a really hard math test this week so I thought I would reflect that onto Shiro!

Enjoy!

* * *

Shiro~

"Adam! I'm going to fail!" Shiro wailed slamming his pencil down on the textbook.

"You're not going to _fail_ ," Adam reassured him, dropping his pencil onto the paper.

"But I'm _awful_ at math," Shiro lamented.

"Okay what are you having trouble with?" Adam asked, standing up and walking towards Shiro.

Shiro sighed, "Everything."

Adam looked pointedly at Shiro. "I doubt it. Do you know how to do question one?"

"Yeah…?" Shiro said slowly.

"Alright, what about question five?"

"Yeah… I think I get that one."

"Okay, what's the answer then?"

Shiro looked at his work. "Negative five?"

"Yep! Good job!" Adam told Shiro. He smiled warmly. "So, do you know nothing?"

"I guess not," Shiro sighed dramatically.

"Right. Now, which question are you _actually_ stuck on?"

"Thirteen," Shiro pointed.

"Oh! That one only looks complicated." Adam proceed to explain. Shiro tried to follow his explanation as well as he could. He watched each step, writing them out on his own paper.

Adam was a surprisingly good teacher. He was able to keep calm even when Shiro was frustrated and confused. He explained things in a calm and coordinated matter. And he didn't seem to mind going back through and repeating himself as many times as it was necessary to get the concept into his head.

"Okay… so if I divide here…"

"Yep!" Adam reassured him. "And then subtract and you get the right answer!"

" _That's_ the right answer?" Shiro asked inquisitively. He didn't think that his answer looked right. It didn't look… complete.

"Yep," Adam said again. He put a hand on Shiro's shoulder. "So, do you think you have the concept now?"

"I guess," Shiro said, still not confident.

"So, what are you still worried about?" Adam asked.

"I'm worried that I'm going to fail the first test at the Garrison and they are going to kick me out. I know, I know. It's an irrational fear. There are more tests in this unit and I don't even have to be amazing at Math to get into the Pilot program. I mean, I need to pass, but I don't need to get a hundred or anything."

"Hey," Adam said, looking Shiro in the eyes. "I get it. This is the first math test. It sets the standard for all other math tests and how the year is going to go. But, Shiro, I'm nervous too. Everyone is. We don't know how this test will go and that is _terrifying._ But Mrs. Montgomery isn't going to write a test that everyone is going to fail. And didn't you get the first ten of these review problems right? If the test is structured the same way, you already have two thirds of the content learned so chances of you getting one more problem right are pretty high. And then you would have a seventy. And you would pass."

"Yeah… but math is only going to get harder," Shiro argued.

"Shiro, don't stress it," Adam told him calmly. "Just try your best and, hey, I'll tutor you if you need. I get this math stuff pretty well so far."

"So far?"

"Yeah…" Adam chuckled lightly. "I hope that I continue to understand everything. I would _like_ to be able to help you, but I don't know that I will be able to if Mrs. Montgomery makes the content too difficult."

"You're great at math," Shiro reassured him. "Don't worry, you'll be able to figure everything out. And then you can help me."

"Alright," Adam smiled. "We'll see how we both do."

Shiro decided that he was going to spend the whole night studying. And Adam decided that he was going to stay up studying and tutoring Shiro.

They worked on problem after problem together. Once they exhausted old homework and review assignments, Adam would make up problems that he thought would work and would solve them for himself before giving them to Shiro to solve.

After making three idiotically stupid mistakes in a row, Adam opened up his computer and turned on disney's Beauty and the Beast to sing along to the songs and distract them for a bit.

Shiro had no idea that Adam knew every word to every song in the movie. He claimed that it was his sisters' fault but Shiro didn't entirely believe him.

After Gaston's song where Adam got up on the bed and acted like he was eating and juggling eggs, Shiro laughed the whole time, his mind feeling light, for once relieved of the stress that had been so fiercely plaguing it all week.

Not long afterwards, Shiro decided to put his pencil down and close the worksheets of review.

Adam agreed with a yawn as he closed the movie and laid on his bed.

"Thank you," Shiro said as he reached over to turn off the light.

"Yeah," Adam smiled, "No problem! Good luck on the test tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too."

~~  
In the morning, Shiro forced his mind to go through each period as calmly as he could. Every time that he started to get too nervous, Adam would notice and grab his arm in a comforting hold. He would smile at Shiro comfortingly and Shiro would take a deep breath, forcing himself to relax.

When they walked into the math room, Shiro felt like he was visibly shaking.

They took their respective seats a few rows away and waited until the bell rang.

Mrs. Montgomery walked in, smiling at them.

"Test day!" she declared excitedly. "Don't worry. You'll all do great."

Shiro glanced at Adam who met his eye. Adam mimed breathing in and out slowly and Shiro followed his lead, taking a deep breath to relax him.

Adam gave him a thumbs up and mouthed " _Don't worry; you'll do fine._ "

Shiro smiled shakily and turned his head to the test that was being passed backwards down the row towards him.

He grabbed it and wrote his name. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, focusing himself.

And then he started on the first question.

It was easy.

Simple.

He wrote the answer and moved on to the next one. After reading it and panicking when he forgot the theorem he needed to use, he skipped it and moved onto the next question.

He took each question one at a time, focusing on everything that Adam had shown him and everything that he remembered.

When he got to the back of the test, the first question looked just like number thirteen from the review. Shiro glanced at Adam. He was bent over his test, working adamantly.

Shiro closed his eyes and focused on writing each equation he needed and each step he had to do to solve it.

Once he got his answer, it didn't look like something that he thought should be correct.

But that's just how thirteen was.

Shiro smiled and circled his answer moving on to the rest of the test.

When time was called, Shiro had just finished looking over his answers for the second time. He didn't feel horrible about this test. He actually felt like maybe he had done something right.

He glanced at Adam who was watching him with his eyebrows raised in eager question.

Shiro smiled and gave a simple thumbs up. Adam nodded in appreciation and settled back into his chair.

When the bell rang, Adam walked over to Shiro excitedly.

"So, how do you think it went?" he asked.

"Better than I expected!" Shiro answered truthfully. "Thank you so much for tutoring me!"

"Yeah!" Adam agreed. "Now we'll just have to see how we both do."

The next class, they got their test backs. Adam got the highest grade with a 98. Shiro passed with an 81. He was pretty happy with how he had done. And he was glad that Adam had done so well, also.


	7. Hi, can you help?

I thought it best to introduce some new characters/friends. Start building a group.

Enjoy!

* * *

Adam~

Adam had been having a normal lunch, eating with Shiro as they worked on their engineering homework, when suddenly the table shook as a large book was slammed down.

Unconsciously, Adam started and looked around for the source of the noise.

Lilli, the girl they had met on the first day of school, was sitting across from them, scowling.

"Hi, Lilli, Matt," Shiro said nicely.

Adam noticed that Matt was standing a few paces away, hugging a book to his chest and staring at them awkwardly.

"Hi. So we are in need of help," Lilli said opening the book and flipping through to the page she was looking for. "Well, Matt moreso than me, but I would like some help too."

Blinking, Adam pushed his lunch to the side, making room for them.

"What do you guys need help on?" Adam asked, smiling.

"Matt and— Matt?!" Lilli said, turning back to gesture to where Matt was still standing awkwardly. "Get over here and sit down. I'm trying to help you."

Matt slunk over and sat down across from Adam.

"Alright," Lilli said, taking a deep breath and pushing the glasses up her nose. "We wanted to ask you guys about flying."

"Flying?" Adam repeated. "Aren't you one of the best pilots?"

"Ehhhh," Lilli sighed. "I'm passable. But I have trouble shifting speed. I'm only good once I'm in one speed and keeping there. But more importantly: this idiot is having more troubles even getting liftoff, let alone actual flying."

Shiro smiled sympathetically at Matt. "I can help with that. Adam, do you want to tell Lilli how to do the shifting thing? You're a better teacher with details like that."

Adam nodded. "Okay. Make sure you prepare Matt well though. I imagine that he's going to get graded harder with Sam being his dad."

Adam and Lilli worked through the entirety of lunch, pouring over textbook diagrams and pictures that Adam drew hastily on the lunch napkins. They didn't have a simulator so the only thing that Adam could teach Lilli was the theoretical procedures.

Still, she was a good student. She understood and wanted to understand a lot. But she did interrupt him quite a few times, rather annoyingly.

When the bell ending lunch rang, Lilli scooped the textbook and papers up into her arms, bounding up from her seat. "Thank you so much for all of your help! Farewell and good luck."

Matt nodded and shook Shiro's hand nervously, muttering a quick goodbye.

"Why do you think that he's so nervous?" Adam asked as he and Shiro packed up their things.

Shiro shrugged. "Wouldn't you be? If one of the teachers was one of your parents? Everyone would be looking at you, trying to figure out if they can get something from you or where you sit with the teacher. He's forced to not be like other students."

"I suppose that's true," Adam agreed. "I actually kind of feel bad for him. It doesn't seem like he has many friends or people who want to talk to him in general."

"Maybe we could become his friend?" Shiro suggested offhandedly.

"I don't know," Adam said warily, "I don't really want to have to specially tutor the guy every lunch day."

Shiro chuckled. "Why are you so cautious about becoming friends with someone? You became friends with me pretty quick. And we wouldn't tutor him _every day_."

"Well…" Adam was stopped in his tracks. "That's because I was forced to get to know you. I couldn't really help it. And it is just a plus for me that you're actually a nice person."

"Would you still be friends with me if I wasn't?"

"Probably not," Adam told him. "I wouldn't want to waste my time around mean people."

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm not a mean person."

"Or idiot people," Adam added looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I cannot stand it when people make dumb comments all of the time. I mean, everyone makes a comment every now and then that's kind of stupid but sometimes there are those people who _won't stop talking_ and pointing out the obvious."

Shiro smiled, "I understand that. I dislike it when people talk during tests."

"Ugh," Adam agreed, "Does anyone actually not mind that? Or is everyone just annoyed to the ends of the earth?"

"I think everyone is annoyed," Shiro said as they walked into the classroom.

Commander Iverson was waiting at the head of the room, scowling, as per usual, while all of the cadets walked in and stood in formation.

Adam noticed that Lilli was standing in her usual place in the back, rubbing a few strands of her hair between her fingers as she mouthed words to herself, probably going over the procedure to fly the simulator.

Matt was in the middle of the students, his eyes closed and his body so ridged and still that Adam might have thought he was dead. And then Adam watched him suck in a big breath, puffing out his cheeks in determination.

Adam rather hoped that he did well. He actually did seem like a nice kid. A bit lonely, maybe, but nice.

But then again… not many of the students had wanted to talk to Adam and Shiro over the last several weeks, either. They had become known as the top two. The best pilots. And everyone wanted to be in their position.

Adam had grown very competitive with Shiro. Shiro was the better pilot. No question. But Adam was _barely_ behind him. Sometimes he could even surpass him for a moment or two.

However, Adam was better at Mathematics and Engineering, two subjects that Shiro found himself lacking in, based on how many homework assignments Adam had helped him to complete.

They were only a month into school and already they were starting to be ranked into who was the best pilots and the most likely to make it into the system.

Adam knew that Matt was a computer _genius_. But he was no pilot. He wasn't going to be in that top group probably ever. But he still had to pass the piloting course.

"Attention!" Commander Iverson said as soon as the tardy bell rang. All of the students stepped into attention. No one was quivering like they had the first day, but they were all still deathly terrified that Iverson would catch them doing something they shouldn't be doing. Slouching, sighing, groaning, anything like that.

"As you all know," Commander Iverson said, his voice booming through the room, "You have a little quiz today. You might even call it the pre-test to your finals."

He paused as there was a soft murmur of confusion. They weren't supposed to be having finals for _months,_ Adam thought.

"Yes, that's right. We take a final every six weeks. So I want you pansies to get good at 'em. We'll rank you based on how you do. No one will know your exact score, per say, but they will know who did better than who, who's at the top of the class, _and_ who's at the bottom."

"No one will care about this pretest," Commander Iverson continued, "But they will care about the next one so I trust that you all will try your best on this one and try to get high scores so you won't have as much work to do for the finals."

"Understand?"

"YES, SIR," the class chorused.


	8. A Friend

Shiro~

Shiro waited in line nervously, before using the simulator. They hadn't been placed in a random order, like usual. Instead, they were lined up by how they normally scored on the simulation. Worst to best.

So Shiro was last. Adam was directly in front of him. Lilli was a couple people ahead and poor Matt was at the front of the line.

Shiro felt bad for Matt. He was a good kid but he was _awful_ at the simulator.

Of course, this time instead of dodging asteroids they would look like they were actually flying through the sky. There would be wind that they would have to counter in addition to any gravitational pulls and the instructions of the Commander Iverson to rise up by x degrees or turn y degrees to the left.

Maybe Matt had passed the written portion. Shiro himself hadn't felt super confident about it, but during lunch, when he was talking to Matt and trying to help him to the best of his abilities, he had been able to tell that Matt knew his stuff. Matt knew how to fly _technically_ he just couldn't execute those technical moves.

Shiro wasn't as good at the technicalities of it, but he understood how to fly as soon as the grip was under his hand.

As he waited for Commander Iverson to boot up the computer, Shiro ran through the test in his head for the billionth time. He was sure that he had missed number 18. Now that he thought about it, the answer should have been D. And he wasn't ultra confident about his short answer question. He felt like he could have written more and explained what he meant in part B more.

Hmm.

"ATTENTION!" Iverson commanded, and everyone snapped upright, saluting him.

"You will now begin your training," He told them, his voice sharp to Shiro's ears. "I don't want to hear any catcalling or teasing. No 'polite applause' or whislin' or anything of that sort. I want you all to wait in you best form and practice your flight in your heads. Yes, this is going to take a while. Just _try_ to exercise patience if you are able to."

"Yes sir," the squad called out weakly.

Shiro leaned slightly out of line to look at Matt. He looked a little green in the face as he pushed his glasses up his nose and settled down into the chair.

Matt's hands were shaking as he settled down into the chair and flipped the switches to 'power the ship on.' Everything glowed to life and Matt visibly sighed with relief.

Shiro nodded to him, despite the fact that he knew Matt wasn't looking at him.

"Begin take off, Cadet Holt." Matt nodded. Before he moved to make his ship take off, he glanced out into the line of kids and his his eyes met with Shiro's. Shiro smiled reassuringly at him and he could see the faintest smile appear on Matt's lips.

And then he pressed the button and pushed the stick into take off, muttering directions to himself.

Shiro watched the whole time, his fist clenched as he waited to see how Matt would do. Shiro was pleasantly surprised to see Matt make it through the entire end of the simulation. He messed up on a few parts but he, for the most part, made it through without epic failure.

"Thank you, Cadet Holt," Commander Iverson told him as Matt powered down the simulation, sat in the chair for a moment and then stood up.

"You may go wait by the side wall. Dismissed," Iverson dismissed him and Matt staggered out of the simulator.

His face was tinged green, his eyes wide, and his steps shaky.

Matt swallowed and nodded, walking over to the wall on the other side. Matt collapsed against the wall, pulling his glasses off and setting them beside him on the ground. He covered his eyes with his arm and turned away from the line of cadets.

Iverson was already starting the next Cadet's test in the simulator.

Shiro watched the other students and Matt, who looked fairly ill, as the period passed on. A couple of the early students crashed their ships. They walked off, looking miserable.

When Lilli went, she went through phenomenally, making no errors that Shiro could see but he was sure that Iverson had managed to find _something_ to mark down.

And then it was Adam's turn. Shiro saw Matt stand up, out of the corner of his eye, and rush out of the room. Shiro wanted nothing more than to race after him and make sure that he was okay.

But he looked back to Adam, focusing on how he did on his test.

And, as usual, Adam was spectacular. He did everything perfectly, precisely. He was calm, collected, and relaxed as he moved through the difficult test.

Shiro wished he could be that relaxed when he went.

And then Adam was done. Shiro raised his hand slightly and Adam gave him a subtle high five.

"Good luck," Adam whispered as he walked towards the wall with the rest of the students.

"Cadet Shirogane," Commander Iverson commanded.

Shiro saluted and stepped up and into the simulator. He tried to force Matt out of his head. He would be okay.

"Any time, Shirogane," Commander Iverson said, annoyedly.

Shiro started and flipped on the simulator, the lights of the screen flashed and Shiro saw the ground runway in front of him.

He breathed out, forcing himself to focus. Gently he pushed the ship forward and into lift off. He climbed in altitude and leveled out at the altitude that Commander Iverson requested.

Step by step, Shiro followed Iverson's commands, to the letter.

He felt like he had entered an ethereal daze. He didn't feel like he had settled down into himself until he landed back on the 'ground' and Iverson dismissed him. Shiro stepped out of the simulator, but instead of heading back to the other cadets, he lingered for a moment, hesitating.

"Yes, cadet?" Iverson asked, sounding annoyed again.

Shiro bit his lip, "May I go to the restroom?"

Iverson glared at him and was about to say no when Shiro added "I think that I might be sick."

"Alright, fine." Commander Iverson conceded.

Shiro took off towards the door. Adam saw him leaving, a look of pensive question on his face.

Shiro didn't pause to talk to Lilli or Adam. He did see that Lilli was holding Matt's glasses while she talked to Adam nervously.

He rushed out towards the bathroom and opened the door.

Matt was inside one of the stalls, crouched by the toilet. Shiro walked over and stood a few feet away, his worry apparent on his face.

"Hey," he said softly, "Matt, how are you doing?"

"Fine," Matt said forcefully.

"Well you don't look 'fine,'" Shiro sighed. "I was worried about you through all of the testing, but I had to wait until my turn was done before I could check on you."

"You were worried about me?" Matt asked shakily, standing up slowly and flushing the toilet as he did. He walked towards the sink and washed his hands gingerly, using the water to splash his face and his rinse his mouth out.

"Extremely," Shiro told him. "Adam and Lilli too."

Matt turned around, the tips of his hair were dripping with water and his eyes looked worn out and exhausted.

"Wow," he mumbled, "I don't know what to say. I was just so stressed about the test that… afterwards my nerves just broke on me. I haven't been sleeping well I've been so nervous."

Shiro smiled warmly, "I understand that. Anxiety and nerves— I get them too. It doesn't matter if I feel confident in my flying skills, I still felt nauseated while watching everyone else do the testing."

"Wow. I'm just.. .I'm just glad that the testing is all over." Matt pause before adding, "I think I feel better now. Thank you… for all of your help."

"No problem," Shiro said. "We're your friends, or at least we want to be."

"Really?"

"Yes, if you want us to be your friends, Lilli, Adam and I,"

"Of course!" Matt grinned. "I would love to have friends."

Shiro beamed, "Alright, shall we head back to the end of Iverson's class? And get your glasses from Lilli?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Matt sighed comically, the light returning to his eyes.

"Fantastic," Shiro smiled, opening the door and holding it for Matt to walk through.

"Thanks," Matt smiled. "And thank you for coming to check on me."

Shiro smiled, "Anytime."

* * *

~Thanks for reading another chapter!


	9. Sofu

Note: Yikes, sorry! I didn't forget last week, I was just on airplanes and traveling and... lots of stuff so I skipped one week.

However! This is a 2,000 word chapter so that should make up for it?

:)

Anyway, this is one of the major landmarks of the story's beginning! They are probably a little over a month into school right now. Late September-ish, early October.

* * *

Adam~

Adam watched as Shiro rushed around their room, frantically, picking up every piece of trash and dirty cloths that was lying on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Adam asked for the millionth time. He felt bad just sitting on his bed with a book in his lap while Shiro worked so hard to clean the room.

"Yep!" Shiro said cheerily, throwing another pencil onto his desk. He jumped up onto the bed and started yanking off the crumpled blanket and laying it back down neatly.

"So…" Adam said conversationally, "Will I get to meet him this time around?"

"This is the first time he's visiting," Shiro replied.

"Yeah... do I get to meet him?"

Shiro sat back on the bed and stared at Adam.

That morning, Shiro had woken up in a panic. Adam _had_ been intending to sleep in, at least a little, but he had been woken up when Shiro started scrambling around the room like a nutjob, throwing cloths and trash around.

Apparently, since it was the weekend (and because he felt like this time worked better than other weekends), Shiro's grandfather, or Sofu, was coming to visit and Shiro was worried that he would demand to come into the room and see what it looked like.

"If you let me talk to him," Adam suggested, "then I might be able to keep him away from the room and distracted."

Shiro leaned back and seemed to consider what Adam was saying for a moment.

"Alright, but I'll probably let him see the room anyway." he said but before Adam could process the words, Adam found a pillow in his face.

"Shiro!" he gasp, catching the pillow and holding it close to his body.

"Catch!" Shiro smirked, bouncing up from the bed.

"Don't you…" Adam trialed off, looking at the pillow that Shiro had been using for the past few weeks.

"If Sofu's coming then I don't need to use your pillow anymore. I can finally return it to you."

"You… don't have to," Adam said quietly, setting the pillow on his bed and getting up to follow Shiro. "I really don't mind."

"Well, I should be getting my pillow from Safu today. If he remembers. I hope he did. Anyway," Shiro muttered as he opened the door and held it out for Adam, "I believe that he should be arriving soon if you would be willing to head outside?"

"Already coming," Adam smiled, bounding out the door.

"Then Let's go," Shiro smiled, leading the way towards the front.

Shiro~

Shiro was rather terrified to have Adam meet Sofu. His grandfather could be a little… difficult sometimes. He was a good man, but he wasn't the best person to hold long conversations with.

And if Adam expected him to remember Adam the next time they met, he was probably out of luck.

He and Adam stood outside, shuffling their feet nervously as they waited for Sofu to arrive.

"There!" Shiro announced as he saw the old grey car rolling up towards the school. One of the hubcaps was missing, the driver's window was held up with tape and glue, there were so many scratches and dust on the car that you couldn't accurately call it 'silver' anymore, and there was a huge chunk taken out of the hood of the car while the rest was tied down with a bungee cord. It was safe to say that no one would be robbing them of their things or their car.

"Huzzah!" Adam shouted as the car pulled to a stop.

The door opened and out stepped Sofu, Shiro's grandfather.

He was an older japanese gentleman with deep smile lines on his face and thick rounded glasses that enlarged his eyes. He wore his grey hair back in a low ponytail, not out of a choice of style but out of laziness to go to the barbers shop. He reached back into the car and pulled out an old elm cane, beautifully polished with intricate designs of different constellations running down the wood.

Shiro walked over to him and took his arm, helping him to a bench that was nearby.

"I'm not _that_ old!" Sofu cried, hugging Shiro tightly and then shoving him back and keeping him a cane's distance away, literally with his cane.

"I know," Shiro smiled through his lie. Sofu's condition had been deteriorating for the last few years so Shiro knew that it wasn't long before he would retire and then...

Shiro just hoped that he would be there to see the first time Shiro flew in a ship.

"Hello," Adam said politely, holding out his hand for Sofu to shake.

"Who're you?" Sofu asked suspiciously and then turned to Shiro whispering, "Who is he?"

"This is my roommate, Adam," Shiro introduced.

"Adam White, sir. Nice to meet you."

Sofu reached out his hand and shook Adam's surely. "You seem like a good young man."

"Thank you," Adam replied.

"So!" Shiro interrupted. " did you remember to bring a pillow?"

"Hm?" Sofu said, shaking his head to tune back into the world. "Oh! Yes, let me go get it."

Shiro waited while Sofu stumbled back towards the car and opened the door.

Shiro leaned towards Adam and whispered, "I'm going to bet that he pulls out some cat bed or something instead of my pillow."

"Do you guys have a cat?" Adam inquired.

"We used to," Shiro sighed. "We had a cat that was named Floyd— not my name choice— but he died two years ago. We didn't get another one because… well Sofu's getting old and I was going to leave for school."

"Oh, I'm sorry! But on a different note, I love cats," Adam smiled. "We never got one because my dad's allergic, but I really hoped to be able to get a cat when I'm older. Does the garrison allow pets?"

"Doubt it," Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Here you go!" Sofu said triumphantly standing up and presenting a couch pillow to Shiro. It had a nice embroidered flower on it with some nice velvet, but it was definitely _not_ a pillow to sleep on.

Shiro put a hand to his forehead in exasperation, sighing deeply.

Adam covered his mouth to hide his laughter. " Ten out of ten," he whispered to Shiro. "Perfect."

Shiro rolled his eyes and walked over towards Sofu. "Thank you…"

"Did I bring the right one, Takashi?" he asked. "I don't feel like driving all the way back there just to get another pillow."

"Well…" Shiro said slowly, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts nicely. "You did remember a pillow. And it is a very nice pillow. It isn't my pillow but I will use it anyway."

"Hmph."

Shiro took the pillow from his hand and stood up, waiting to see what he would ask. If he was ready to go back or not. Shiro wanted to ask how money was, but he knew that Sofu would just lie to him no matter what. And he didn't really want Adam knowing anymore than he already did about Shiro's family situation.

"So how about I see that room of yours?" Sofu asked. "Since I haven't yet and might have not even gotten a 'hey, how are you text' once a week from a particular grandson." He turned to glare at Shiro who held his hands up in defense.

"Sorry! I've been busy with school!"

"Your grandson is _very_ good at flying," Adam told him, nodding.

"Yeah, and Adam here helps me with my math," Shiro added.

"Good," Sofu decided. "You always did need help on your math, Takashi."

"Now, I'm going to see the room," he declared. "Are you two coming or what?"

"Yes," Shiro and Adam answered, dashing slightly to catch up to Sofu and walk in line with him. "Let us show you."

~  
Adam~

Adam could now understand why Shiro had been so nervous.

Just like Shiro said, it wasn't that his sofu was a bad person. On the contrary, he was quite wonderful. However, he was judgemental and quick to decide his opinion and even quicker to announce it.

Adam believed that he was on the 'good' list so far but he couldn't exactly be sure with Shiro's sofu. He might be super nice or super rude at any given moment.

Plus, it was weird hearing Shiro's first name. He almost wondered if Shiro would prefer to be called 'Takashi' or 'Shiro'.

Adam was half tempted to try to distract the elderly man with a tour of the school, just so he maybe wouldn't want to see their room, but he also didn't know that he wanted to become a nuisance in the old man's path.

So, Adam followed next to Shiro who was next to his sofu.

Shiro's sofu kept looking up and around at the hallways as they past. He stared at the artificial lighting, the sparsely decorated orange, grey, and white walls, and the glistening tile floor with its elongated hexagonal pattern.

"You ready?" Adam whispered as they turned the corner to get to their dorm room.

Shiro nodded, his eyes closed as he walked towards the dorm room with his key in hand.

"Behold!" Shiro, bowed, one arm outstretched to hold the door open and the other folded at his stomach in a bow, "Our living quarters!"

Shiro's safu walked in first followed by Adam who, in turn, held the door for Shiro to go through. It closed rather quickly on its own so if they were both going inside, they generally held it open for the other person so they didn't get hit by the door.

(It had happened more often to Adam than Shiro, but they both held the door out of politeness after the fifth or sixth time that Adam had been hit with it.)

"Hmph," Shiro's Sofu muttered as he walked around the room. "Why is your half so barren, Takashi?" he inquired. "Do you even live here? There are no cloths and pencils everywhere!"

Adam couldn't help but snort in laughter. Shiro had spent the whole morning cleaning in a frenzy only to find out that his grandfather hadn't expected him too.

"Well… I… uh," Shiro mumbled, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I cleaned it this morning for when you came over."

"Bah. Now it just looks like a prison bed." He turned to Adam and Adam couldn't help but glance self-consciously at all of the stuff that was strewn about his side of the room. The pictures he had hung had no real order to them, his school books were just in a pile on his desk with some homework still shoved between the pages, and his suitcase was still visible from where it stood next to his bed as a night table. Adam was only thankful that he had made the bed and put away all of his dirty laundry…. Though, Shiro's pillow, the one Adam was having him borrow, was still lying on top of the bed haphazardly.

"You, " Shiro's grandfather said to Adam, pointing at him. "I like your side. You look like you live and sleep here. Takashi could learn a thing or two from you about living."

Shiro snorted shaking his head at his grandfather. Adam smiled but hid it by lowering his head as he said, "Thank you, sir."

Shiro's grandfather turned to leave, "I'm glad that you're my grandson's roommate," he told Adam. "You seem like a good fellow."

Adam smiled and thanked him again before heading out the door behind him. "Now, I want a tour of the school," Shiro's grandfather declared.

And so, they gave him the grand tour of the school while he decided whether or not he liked the different parts of it. Overall, he seemed fairly happy with the turnout of where his son was staying.

And when he finally left, he gave Shiro a gigantic hug, and Adam a handshake before wishing them well.

"Use the GPS!" Shiro called to him while his grandfather just waved and drove away, showing no signs that he heard.

Shiro sighed, "I bet you he's going to get lost halfway there."

"My dad would do that," Adam agreed.

Shaking their heads, they headed inside with the decorative pillow in hand. As soon as they got inside their room, Adam tossed his pillow back to Shiro who accepted it without a word.


	10. Chess

This stemmed from my friends and I wondering Who would be better at chess: Shiro or Adam?

* * *

S8 is here. Everyone be wary.

I wish you all luck and survival this Friday.

* * *

Adam~

"Shiro… that's check."

"What?" Shiro protested, staring at the board. "No it's not! The horse-thing's in the way!"

"Not the knight," Adam sighed, slumping back on his bed. "The bishop. I don't know why I'm even helping you."

"I wish you'd help me some," Matt chuckled.

"Well, Adam cares for me more," Shiro smirked.

Adam merely sighed, his eyes returning to the book in his hand.

They had invited Matt to their room for some 'de-stress' time the other day and he and Shiro had decided to play chess. It had sounded like a wonderful idea to Adam until he figured out that he was _years_ better than either of them.

Shiro had managed to beat Matt once by sheer dumb luck and Matt looking down and saying, "What?! Checkmate? You didn't say anything!"

That was when Adam had become the referee for the game.

At least Matt knew the names of the pieces and how they moved and what 'check' and 'checkmate' was. Adam could not say the same for Shiro. Though, his dumb luck kept throwing Matt's minimal knowledge and experience with chess, off.

"And checkmate" Matt declared, tapping the rook down defiantly.

"But what if I move like this…." Shiro said, picking up a pawn on the other side of the board and moving it intimidatingly towards the king.

"That…" Matt fumbled, his face dropping in utter disbelief at Shiro's complete lack of chess skills.

"Shiro," Adam interjected, laying the book he was reading down on the bed. "That isn't possible. Matt beat you, yet again."

"Sorry," Shiro muttered, annoyed. "I know I'm not very good but I'm still learning."

Adam shook his head sadly at Shiro. "Right… and that's why I'm going to teach you."

"Can I watch?" Matt asked. "I would love to go home and beat my little sister. She's a mastermind at this kind of thing and I can never quite beat her."

"Sure!" Shiro agreed. "What's your sister's name?"

"Pidge— well, Katie. I just like calling her Pidge… and she kind of hates it. She's five years younger than me and because of that, I'm generally smarter than her, but I bet that she'll surpass me some day. She's like a computer wizard."

"That's nice," Adam smiled. "I have two little sisters as well. We fight sometimes but for the most part I'm just their play thing whenever they feel like it and I concede." Adam chuckled, glancing over at the picture of him and his sisters rolling down a hill together, one after the other. At the bottom of the hill, they had rolled into a giant pile where Adam had started tickling them and chasing them around as a 'tickle monster.'

It was a pleasant memory.

"Neat!" Matt said, taking a seat on Adam's bed awkwardly. "Shiro, you don't have any siblings— right?"

"No…" Shiro said slowly.

Adam knew that Shiro had hardly any family. He knew that Shiro was basically alone and that he was used to that and had lived like that for years upon years… but it still felt awkward to talk about. Or to even know. Adam felt like he knew some secret information that he wasn't supposed to be aware of but somehow affected everything.

It was like when Adam would read about children in books who would knock on their parents' door and their mom or dad would greet them and then they would ask to sleep with them and would be placed in the parent's bed, between them. Adam had never known a life like that. If he had nightmares, he sucked it up and stayed in his own bed.

Matt must have been able to sense the awkward silence in the room as he picked up Adam's half open book and turned it to its cover. "What's this, Adam?"

Adam grabbed the book back, self-conscious about his reading choices. "Um…. it's the second _Percy Jackson_ series."

"Oh! _The Heroes of Olympus_ ones?" Matt asked. "I love those ones!"

"Really?!" Adam brightened. "Who's your favorite character? I'm only on _Son of Neptune_ so no spoilers."

"Okay… hmm," Matt pondered the question. "I really like Leo. He's fun and interesting. Of course everyone has a crush on Percy… and I like Frank a lot. And Hazel. They are both just such nice muffins. And… I kind of like Nico too. I want to protect him."

"Yeah… I agree with you on most all of those points," Adam smirked. "I like Annabeth, too, though. Because she's awesome."

"Agreed."

"Hey, guys?" Shiro interrupted. "Could someone explain to me what the heck is going on? What is this series?"

"You've never read Percy Jackson?" Matt asked incredulously. "How could you have _not_ read _Percy Jackson!"_

"I didn't get out to reading much as a kid," Shiro shrugged.

"Man, people really should call you the Jock," Matt joked.

"What?!" Shiro protested. "People call me that?!"

"No, not really. But it's kind of true. You're super strong, not good at math, and you don't read much…"

Adam snorted, not knowing what to say as Shiro fumbled over his words.

"But… but just because I'm not top in math doesn't mean I'm bad at it!" Shiro protested, "I'm pretty good in the computer tech class! And Engineering!"

"I will admit," Adam said, still smiling, "That on the surface you do kind of seem like a jock."

"ADAM!"

"BUT!" Adam continued, "You aren't a stereotypical jock because you are super loving and kind and you get pretty good grades in school. People just think that you're kind of intimidating."

Shiro laid his head on the chessboard, scattering the pieces. "People find me _intimidating?"_

Matt looked around frantically. "Yes? I mean— once they get to know you, you are a complete teddy bear. So…."

"My life is ruined," Shiro said dramatically.

"How about," Adam told him, trying his best to make Shiro feel better, "I teach you how to play chess and then you will be one step closer to being seen as a smarty pants by everyone."

Matt raised his hand tentatively, "And you can read all of the Percy books so then you won't be a failure at childhood."

Shiro snorted. "Alright. Deal. As long as you, Matt, spread rumors that I'm a Teddy bear and nothing to be intimidated by."

"Except in those piloting chairs," Adam amended. "In those things, you rule."

Shiro laughed. "True. Alright, teach me some chess."


	11. Fabrics

*Sigh* so season 8 happened.

I'm still going strong on this fic though.

* * *

Shiro~

"Shiro!" Adam said excitedly one morning while Shiro was brushing his teeth.

"What?" Shiro yawned, spitting the toothpaste out of his mouth and cupping his hands under the water.

"Next week is Halloween! And guess what?!" Adam said excitedly, clearly much more awake than Shiro.

"Okay... what?"

"Admiral Sanda just announced, via notice under the door, that we are allowed to dress up on Halloween!" Adam cheered.

"That's nice," Shiro said, wiping the water from his face and yawning again.

Adam yawned and glared at Shiro. "Stop yawning. You're making me yawn," Adam protested before he changed back to excitement. "Don't you see!? We don't have to wear our uniform for a day and instead we get to DRESS UP."

Shiro snorted. "Okay. So does that mean I can wear casual clothes?"

"If they are a costume then yes, but you have to dress up!" Adam told Shiro. "The teachers might even be giving out candy!"

Shiro blinked, turning the water off in the sink and turning towards Adam, most of the sleepiness removed from his face. "Didn't most kids grow out of Halloween years ago?"

"What do you mean?" Adam cried. "I don't know about 'most kids,' but I love Halloween! I love dressing up in costumes."

"Alright," Shiro said. "What are you dressing as then?"

Adam scoffed. "Why would I tell you?"

"Because we're roommates?"

Adam looked pensively up at the ceiling. "How about... I'll tell you if you agree to dress up, too?"

"Adam... I don't have a costume," Shiro protested. "And I can't exactly buy one."

"When did you last dress up on Halloween?" Adam asked.

"Hmm. I think when I was seven maybe?" Shiro shrugged. "I was never into it so it didn't bother me to skip." Every year, Shiro and his Safu would watch scary movies together and throw popcorn at the screen whenever the characters would do something stupid. It was one of Shiro's best memories.

And if the doorbell rang they would yelp that it was the monster coming to get them and that they had to hide before they were caught.

"Well," Adam sighed. "We are making you a costume then. I am going to walk to the fabrics store-"

"That's across town," Shiro interrupted.

"Dang it," Adam grumbled. "Fine. I'm using stuff that 's here to make you a costume and you have to wear it without arguing."

"I guess," Shiro sighed. "I still don't really see how I get to benefit from this."

"You get to make memories and get excited about a fun day," Adam told him.

Shiro shook his head, conceding.

They went to class like normal with nothing eventful happening.

When they got back to their room, Adam rushed inside and started gathering up random materials- a pink blanket, a cardboard box, a small sewing kit, and some green ribbon that he had lying around.

"Well, you're excited," Shiro commented, pulling out his homework and getting started on it."

"Yes, I am," Adam said defiantly but still with a smile. "I have a great idea for a costume for you. As long as you'll wear it."

"If you tell me what you are dressing up as, then sure," Shiro reminded Adam.

"Oh, right!" Adam cheered. "Okay, I'm dressing up as a goldfish. "

"A goldfish?" Shiro laughed.

"Yes. A goldfish."

"Okay," Shiro said, smiling and shaking his head. He was genuinely excited to see what Adam would look like as a goldfish. He would wear whatever costume to get to see that. And imagining it was totally worth wearing whatever, too.

As Shiro worked on his homework, he watched Adam stitch and cut some sort of costume together. His fingers were oddly nimble and he acted like he knew what to do with a needle. Shiro bet that Adam's mother taught him how to sew.

Even when Shiro was ready to go to bed, Adam was still sewing.

"Adam," Shiro said slowly, "Did you get any homework done?"

"...No..." Adam said slowly. "This was more important.

"My costume isn't more important than you getting a good grade," Shiro argued.

"Fine. I'll do a little bit of homework..." Adam glanced at the clock. "Wow. Yikes, when did it get so late?"

"Um..." Shiro murmured.

"Nevermind," Adam shook his head. "You should go to sleep. I'll do a little bit of homework and then go to bed. I'll be quiet, I swear."

Shiro laughed. "Nah, I'll stay up with you. I'll sing bad disney songs and keep you awake."

Adam laughed, his eyes drooping down to the bed.

Shiro put Disney's Tangled on and immediately began singing "FLOWER GLEAM AND GLOW. LET YOUR POWER SHINE. MAKE THE CLOCK REVERSE. BRING BACK WHAT ONCE WAS MINE."

Adam bent over laughing. "How many times have you seen this movie?" he asked.

"Hmm.. Maybe a couple of dozen times? It's one of Sofu's favorites. One that he likes to put on when we clean the house."

"I guess it is a good movie to sing to."

By the time they got to 'I have a Dream,' Shiro and Adam both sounded practically drunk with tiredness. They warbled along together and Shiro put an arm over Adam's shoulder, singing loudly to the chorus.

And then they heard a banging on the door and Adam got up to see what was happening.

"LIGHTS OUT WAS TWO HOURS AGO!" Commander Iverson yelled through the doorway.

Shiro debated yelling that the lights _were_ out, which they technically were, but decided that he really didn't want to anger Commander Iverson.

"Yes, Sir," Adam called back, turning off the movie and putting his homework away.

"Aw," Shiro whispered as he heard Iverson's thumping steps retreating. "That was so much fun though."

"What do you want to bet everyone hates us tomorow?"

"Oh definitely," Shiro laughed, settling down in his bed. "So... can I see the costume that you are making?"

"Nope," Adam replied, covering himself with blankets.

"Aw... come on, Adam," Shiro pleaded.

"Nope. I'll show you when I finish."

"Fine, Shiro murmured. "For once, I'm excited for Halloween."


	12. I'm a little Flower,,,

Adam~

"What…. in God's world…. is that?" Shiro asked monotonously.

"Your Halloween costume," Adam told him enthusiastically.

"It's… a flower," Shiro said dryly.

Adam merely grinned and added, "In a pot!"

"Why did you make a flower?" Shiro asked, rubbing at his eyes as if to clear them of the sight. Adam actually thought it was quiet a good flower. The petals wound around the head in pink ovals, the arms were large and flat like leaves, and around the waist, suspended from the shoulders, Adam had formed a pot out of cardboard with the bottom being a hole so that Shiro could still walk— despite his steps being limited.

"Because," Adam said, still cheerily, "I thought it would be fun… and I'm used to making costumes for myself and my sisters usually." He remembered all of the past Halloweens where he had sewn his family costumes. Even this year he had sewn some costumes for them and sent them back, _waaay_ in advance.

Shiro sighed, "Do I _have_ to be a flower?"

"I'm a goldfish," Adam reminded him.

"But…"

"It also might help with the 'jock' record and make you a more of an approachable muffin. Or not. I'm not really sure," Adam shrugged.

Shiro sighed, rolling his eyes back as he stood up slowly. "Alright. Fine. What do I get out of this deal again?"

"Um…" Adam whispered. "You ge to be a flower? And make great memories?"

Shiro rolled his eyes again and grabbed the costume from Adam, taking it gently as he walked to the bathroom to put it on.

While he was gone, Adam found his goldfish costume and donned the golden-orange t-shirt and pants he had and then started to apply the wrist guards and hat that he had made. All of the orange-y surfaces had been covered with circular tool cutouts that shimmered like scales. He had extra tool that was sewn onto his back and the top of his head and the seat of his pants to make it seem like he was a fish with fins. Lastly, he had two styrofoam hemispheres that he used to ensure that he had oversized eyes on the side of his face.

He was just finishing applying the scaly patterns of facepaint to splotches of his face and hands when Shiro walked out of the bathroom.

Adam spun around in his chair as fast as he could, almost falling over backwards as he did.

Shiro looked _epic_ in the costume. His frown was evident and he looked uncomfortable, but it fit like a dream and looked amazing.

Adam stood up and walked around Shiro, admiring his handiwork. "Not bad. I think this actually turned out to be a pretty good costume, considering how much time I was given to do it."

"This is going to be my reputation for the rest of the year," Shiro lamented.

"Nah," Adam reassured him. "But if it is, make sure I get the credit for sewing it. I'm actually really proud of this one."

After they gathered their things in their bags, they headed out for class. While standing outside of Commander Iverson's room, waiting to be let in, Shiro suddenly froze up, staring at Adam in a panic.

"ADAM!" he cried, grabbing onto Adam's shoulders with his leafy arms.

"What?!" Adam replied matching Shiro's level of noise and tone.

"What is the Commander going to say!? I can't sit down! I can't move! I- I—"

"Hey," Adam said, leaning closer and putting his hands on Shiro's shoulders in return. "They told us that we could wear anything that we wanted today and they can't go back on that. Plus," Adam said slyly, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we got the Commander to laugh?"

Shiro chuckled without humor. "I guess…"

"Alright then. LET'S DO THIS!" he clapped his hands together just before the bell rang and pumped his fist in the air, charging to go inside, Shiro just behind him.

Commander Iverson was not there but Adam and Shiro went to get into formation anyway as the other students lined up. Some were wearing their uniforms, but very few. Lilli was wearing a black and white striped shirt that was supposed to be reminiscent of a prisoner uniform with a musical rest above her head claiming that she was "under a rest" as a pun. Matt was wearing a large white lab coat, goggles over his glasses, and was holding a couple of flasks in his hands and in a large utility belt. His hair hadn't been tamed (not that it usually was) and instead had been made to stick out in all directions as a crazy mad scientist.

Everyone got a kick out of Shiro and Adam's costumes. They were given everything from high fives to jokes to insults. Adam didn't mind them at all, but Shiro seemed a bit out of sorts. Adam wished he could help him to have fun.

Before Adam could ask him about what the problem was, Iverson walked in, staring at a clipboard with papers folded over to the back.

"Welcome class," Commander Iverson said distractedly. "Today we are— what in God's name is that?!" he cried as he stared at Shiro's outfit, his one eye opened wide in surprise.

Shiro blushed and lowered his head.

"An _amazing_ flower in a pot," Adam told him defiantly, still holding his salute. "Sir."

Commander Iverson blinked and shook his head, the faintest of smiles playing at the edge of his lips. "My god you kids sure are something," he murmured. He opened his mouth about to continue class and then stopped again and turned back to Adam and Shiro. "You made this?"

"Yes," Adam told him. "I did, Sir."

"Impressive," Commander Iverson whispered. He paused again before turning towards Shiro and said "And I commend you for wearing that. You should be proud," he said without humor.

Shiro said nothing and Adam glanced at him and elbowed him in the side. "Ow!" Shiro said, shaking himself, "Yes. Um, thank you, Sir."

"Hmph," Commander Iverson muttered before he turned to the class and announced their daily lesson.

After class, when they went to Admiral Sanda's weapon's class, she was much less accepting. Still, mostly due to Adam pleading, and Shiro's own defiance, he kept wearing the costume.

Adam proudly wore his goldfish, answering anyone's questions about both of their costumes for the entirety of the day. Especially at lunch, they were very popular.

At the end of the day, Captain Hendrick was dull as usual and he actually didn't say much, expect he let them out of class a couple minutes early and told them that curfew was extended by an hour if they wished to have a Halloween party in the commons.

Adam and Shiro joyfully joined. Or in Shiro's case: reluctantly conceded.

Though, in all reality, the party was pretty boring and lame with most people talking in their small groups and music playing awkwardly in the background until eleven when they had to shut it down.

Despite everything, Adam thought it was fantastic and he even dragged Shiro into awkwardly dancing in his flower pot costume with him. Adam pretended to be a fish while he danced, wiggling like he was swimming whereas Shiro basically flapped his arm pedals in an attempt to move and dance. Matt cheered from the sidelines making everything an extra layer of awkward that was, in Adam's opinion, perfectly typical of fifteen-year-olds.

After the party, Shiro and Adam took off their costumes and collapsed on the beds, Adam with gold paint still on his face.

"Okay, I'll admit," Shiro conceded. "That was pretty freaking epic."

"It was, wasn't it!" Adam said, sitting up excitedly. "See Halloween can be a ton of fun if you _make_ it fun."

Shiro smirked, laying down with his hands behind his head and his right leg crossed over his left knee. "Yeah, I agree. And I'll agree to do it next year. You just might have to remind me."

"New tradition?" Adam said, realizing that he had never really thought about the fact that he and Shiro would be friends for the next few years, circumstances permitting.

Shiro smiled, "New tradition."


	13. Eiffel Tower

Gah. I missed last week. Sorry guyssss.

I just had a crazy weekend and didn't get around to starting this until Tuesday evening or something.

But I'm back with a new chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Shiro~

"Okay… just one more… hold still."

"But," Shiro murmured straining, "I have to… ah-ah ACHOOO!"

All around Shiro miscellaneous utensils and empty containers of milk or plates began to fall and crash to the ground. The loudest was a half empty bottle of ketchup that thumped onto the table to Shiro's right.

"Awww!" Adam moaned in defeat. "But I didn't get to take a picture!"

"What are you guys doing?" Matt asked, concerned as he slipped into a seat across from them.

"Um…" Adam

"I sneezed," Shiro said bluntly.

"Yeah, by the way, bless you," Adam said to Shiro.

"Thanks…." Shiro trailed off, staring at Matt as he expected him to push further for answers. Shiro glanced at Adam who held his hands up in surrender.

"This was _your_ idea. You explain."

Shiro glared at Adam and then conceded, sighing. "Alright… so we got bored. And we decided—"

"'You,'" Adam interjected. "'You' were the one who decided this would be a good idea."

"You went along with it," Shiro smirked.

Adam sighed, shaking his head.

"So anyway," Shiro continued, "What happened was we decided to stack things on our head until they fell or we ran out of objects."

Matt laughed softly.

"What?!" Shiro protested, "We got bored."

"I was building the Eiffel Tower on Shiro's head when he sneezed," Adam told Matt.

"Aw! That would have so cool!" Shiro said excitedly.

"Right!?" Adam agreed excitedly.

"You guys are so weird," Matt commented, sighing and resting his head on the table.

"Wouldn't you want to have a bunch of objects fancily arranged atop your head?" Adam asked in a false British accent.

Shiro laughed and straightened his back like he was sitting properly and grabbed his water bottle with his pinky raised. "Oh, yes," he said in a very bad British accent, "I do so ever love having fanciful hats of… eating supplies."

Shiro broke down laughing, wiping at his eyes.

"I stand by my previous statement," Matt declared.

Shiro couldn't help but agree with what Matt was saying. Even over the last few months, he and Adam had grown really close to each other. It seemed weird to think that they could be such good friends after how little time they had spent together.

But the Garrison was like a new chapter in their story. And it was nice to have someone who was like a new, weirder family. Someone who understood him and who he could have fun with (and who could help on his math homework as a pleasant bonus).

The bell chimed over the speaker and they all sighed, heading off to class (After Shiro and Adam worked frantically to pick up all of the forks and plates and other miscellaneous things that they had been occupying themselves with.)

When they got to Computer Programming, they were greeted with a surprise.

Computer Programming was a… weird class. At first, they had just worked with coding and the like but then they had moved onto trying to solve what codes had been imputed into a sequence, what was wrong with it, and how to fix it. They had just started learning some of the actual coding program info. Shiro found it confusing and hard to remember but he wasn't horrible at it. He was pretty creative when it came to the programming, he found. He usually would solve the problem in a different way from the vast majority of the class.

But instead of just another day plastered in front of their computer screens, however, they saw all of the computers shut off and their teacher, Mr. Dos Santos, standing erect in military posture at the front of the room.

Alone, Shiro found that weird because usually Mr. Dos Santos was pretty chill and easy going. He would just sit in his chair and type away on a computer or play Tetris or something.

Additionally, another teacher was standing at the front of the room, looking slightly more relaxed than Mr. Dos Santos but still stiff and Military-like. Because of the weird setting, it took Shiro a moment to place where he recognize the other teacher because he so wasn't used to seeing him here.

"Is that… Sam?" Adam asked quietly.

Sam looked at them, smiling and then subtly did the 'cut it out' gesture and pointed to the board behind him where the name 'Mr. Holt' was written.

"I can't believe Mr. Holt is here," Shiro said slightly loudly for the other students.

"Ahem!" Mr. Dos Santos said quietly at the front of the room after the tardy bell rang. "So… um… class. It's november and… midterms will be coming up soon."

Lilli raised her hand in confusion.

"Yes, Lilli?" Sam— Mr. Holt— asked.

Lilli folded her hands on her desk and stared at the two teachers. "I thought Midterms weren't until December. Don't we still have nearly two months of learning before we are ready to take Midterms?"

"Well," Mr. Holt smiled, "That's what we're here to talk to you guys about."

"So… Engineering and Computer Programing are intended to go hand in hand," Mr. Dos Santos explained. "They are different careers, but closely knit topics. Normally, in my class you have to fix a text code and create a website that is at least minorly functional."

"And in my class I give you a simulated broken machine and you have to repair it," Mr. Holt added.

"But this year, as we received a new requirement, we decided to change things up a little bit," Mr. Dos Santos said.

"So apparently, for engineering, this year they want you to make and wire the controls to a small robot. All of the supplies will be supplied, but no instructions will be given."

"So we got to thinking," Mr. Dos Santos said. "And since you already have to create something, why not combine the projects."

"For the next two months," Mr. Holt announced, "in both of our classes, you are going to work on creating a small robot that must walk forward and then pick up a small, rather light weight object, turn around, and bring it back to the starting location where the object will be set down. You will both have to build this robot in my class, and program it in Mr. Dos Santos's class."

While Mr. Holt was talking, Mr. Dos Santos passed out a paper of information about the project to all of the students.

Through the rest of class, they discussed the projects and worked through a short example of what was going to happen.

As soon as the end-of-class bell rang, and they were dismissed to go home, All of the students burst out of the doors so that they could start talking. Through the hallways, everyone was chattering about the Midterm project and what creative liberties that they were going to take with their robots.

"So are you excited?" Adam asked softly once they got out of the worst of the noise.

"I guess…" Shiro said nervously. "But… if you mess up on one part, then you screw up both grades."

"True…" Adam whispered, "But I think we have plenty of time to work on them so hopefully everything will work out well and we won't have to worry about malfunctions. Plus, Sam is really nice and I bet he'd help us if we wanted him to."

"Yeah, I bet you're right," Shiro smiled. "I guess we'll also be graded on creativity and the such. It shouldn't be _too_ hard."

"I agree," Adam said opening their dorm room. "I'm actually kind of excited. I think we'll have to see how it goes?"

Shiro set his bags down and flopped on his bed. "Yep. Just gotta make it to the second semester and we'll be good until the end of the year exams. Not much left."

Adam chuckled and then added, with a smirk, "And then we just have three years of intensive training to look forward to. Welcome to the Garrison."


	14. Packing

note: Hello to anyone who reads multiple of my fics! I am still working on my other fics- I swear. But most of my effort is dedicated to my s8 fix-it-fic currently.

Thanks for being patient!

* * *

Adam~

Adam began pulling out his books and school supplies from his backpack because he _refused_ to take those with him.

This was going to be a homework-free week. That's what he had decided.

"Toothbrush?" Shiro asked, helping Adam to name off things that he might have forgotten. "Deodorant? Clothes!"

"I remembered to grab clothes, Shiro," Adam laughed. "I'm not that much of an idiot." He paused, surveying the things he had in his bag and then glaring at Shiro playfully. "Fine. I forgot socks. But that's it!"

Shiro laughed. He was laying sideways on his bed, watching Adam pack while half attempting to read Percy Jackson. Adam appreciated the effort of him trying, but it was kind of funny to listen to his questions about what was going on in the book for parts he had zoned out to while reading.

"Do you want to bring back a pillow?" Shiro asked, gesturing to the couple on his bed and the one on Shiro's own bed.

"... Yeah," Adam said after a brief pause. "I know I have pillows over there, but I do love this one," he said as he pulled off the main pillow on his bed and stuffed it into the suitcase."

Tomorrow, he was going to get on a plane to return to his family. It was Thanksgiving break and all of the cadets were given a week off so that they could return home to their families and stuff. Adam was elated to get to see his sisters and his parents again, but he also felt kind of bad for Shiro.

"So… is your sofu going to come and visit?" Adam asked quietly, jolting Shiro from where he was in the book.

"Oh, um, yeah, probably," Shiro answered awkwardly. "I hadn't really told him yet because he's bad with dates, so I figured it would be better to ask whenever I wanted him to visit to see if he could. So he didn't just show up today for no reason."

"Okay…" Adam nodded slowly. "Still… I feel rather bad for leaving you here by yourself."

"Phh," Shiro breathed, sitting up and waving his arms as though he were swiping away Adam's concerns. "I'll be fine. As long as you promise that you have a good time there."

"No," Adam said, stone-faced but joking. "I will not, under any circumstances, have fun with my family. And in return you aren't allowed to have fun either."

"Eh, I'll just sleep in and read books."

"No, I will check in with you to see that you're doing… HOMEWORK!"

"Nooo!" Shiro cried, fakely, falling back onto the bed with a hand held to his heart. "Not the homework! My only weakness!"

"Mwahaha!" Adam cackled, raising his hands above his head. "I know your only weakness and I shall use it to exploit, manipulate, and control thee!"

They stared for a minute, not sure what to say before they both broke down into fits of laughter.

"But seriously," Adam said, wiping at his eyes, "I think that you should try to do some things so that you have fun while you're on break."

"I _think_ ," Shiro started to say slowly, "that Matt said he and Sam weren't leaving and instead his mom and younger sister are just coming to the Garrison. So I might get to meet Matt's younger sister."

"Katie, right?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Shiro nodded. "Except Matt calls her Pidge to annoy her."

Adam laughed. "I get that. I'll call my sisters by weird names, too, if I feel like it. But that should be a lot of fun."

Shiro nodded in agreement. "Hopefully. I've heard that Katie can be kind of introverted and rude when you meet her because she's not used to people being nice to her just because they want to. Apparently she faces a lot of bullying in school for being smart."

"That's so sad!" Adam frowned. "You shouldn't bully people regardless, but the fact that she gets bullied for being smart? Something that'll help her succeed in life?"

Shiro looked down at his hand. "I think that unless you are the kid _doing_ the bullying, everyone has experienced it at one point or another. But that doesn't mean it isn't sad and absolutely horrible."

"When you see her— well, _If_ you see her— give her a big hug for me and tell her to keep being smart and compliment anything that she says that makes her seem more intelligent or something."

"Definitely. But I'll try to do it without seeming weird," Shiro laughed.

Adam sighed, zipping his suitcase up and turning around to lean on the bed, facing Shiro. "I'm excited to tell my family all about the first semester, so far," Adam said with a soft smile on his face.

"Are you going to tell them about me wearing a flower pot costume?" Shiro groaned playfully.

"...Maybe…" Adam said slowly in a suggestive way.

"Man, you are," Shiro lamented, a smile still peaking through on his face.

"Well, I do have photographic evidence and I have to share all of the photographic evidence that I happen to have in my collection," Adam smirked before grabbing his suitcase and pulling it off of the bed before slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"You have to tell me stories when you get back," Shiro said, standing up as well.

"Of course!" Adam told him. He knew that Shiro was slightly disappointed that they weren't going to stay over break together, but he was putting on an act. Adam promised himself that he would make sure to text Shiro to check in with him and make sure that he was okay and having enough fun. "And I expect you to tell me any stories about anything that happens. ...and tell me how your Sofu is doing."

Shiro smiled, "Why, certainly. Now let me get the door for you, good Sir," Shiro bounded off of the bed and towards the door where he pulled it opened and then held it while bowing with one arm placed across his chest as Adam lugged the suitcase through the door frame.

"Why thank you, kind Knight," Adam said, playing his part.

"I'll walk you down," Shiro said, holding out his hand as though for Adam to take.

Adam rolled his eyes, almost tempted, but then he swung his backpack off of his shoulder and placed it in Shiro's hand. "Here. You can help me carry this."

"What's in here? Bricks?" Shiro gasped, swinging it onto his back.

"My computer and some books," Adam laughed. "So yeah."

Shiro shook his head.

"Speaking of books," Adam smiled. "I expect you to have read at least the first two Percy books by the time I get back!"

Shiro sighed. "Okay. I will. I swear."

Adam smiled, bumping into Shiro's arm lightly. "Good. Can't wait to hear about them when I get back."


	15. A Second Family

Note: Hiii! I'm not dead.

I have just not been writing much lately because LIFE!

Anyway, this is a longer fic that is one of my major milestones in the story.  
Everything can't stay happy for forever! mwahahaha.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Shiro~

Shiro was bored.

He had never realized how much he enjoyed Adam's company until now. He always knew that Adam was fun to be around, but without him here, Shiro was _bored._

The first day of break he had spent for himself. He had slept in late and spent the whole day reading and watching shows until his eyes hurt. He had finished the first Percy book and had gotten a good start on the second one.

Otherwise, he had watched movies and vegged out, just letting himself relax.

The second day, tired of being cooped up by himself, he had went to go find Matt, knowing that he might run into Sam too. When he arrived at Matt's dorm, he knocked softly, not sure if Matt was in there or not. Before he had even had a chance to step back and take a breath, the door opened beneath his knuckle and then abruptly shut again.

"PIDGE!" Shiro heard Matt cry indignantly through the door.

The door opened again to reveal Matt smiling up at Shiro while he tried to hold his younger sister back. She was only nine or so Shiro guessed by the way she was shoving at Matt to close the door. "I thought it was Dad! I don't want to talk to one of your weird friends!"

"Pidge!" Matt moaned while he smiled apologetically at Shiro, using his body to keep the door from closing.

"And don't call me Pidge!" Matt's sister huffed.

"Give me a moment," Matt smiled at Shiro, let the door close and then, after a moment filled with a stern talking to to his sister, Matt reopened the door, still smiling at him. "Hello there, Shiro! Nice to see you here. What brings you over?"

"I was just bored…" Shiro murmured. "And I don't have any friends other than Adam and you and sometimes Lilli so… here I am."

"Well, I'd be happy for some help managing Katie. She's a bit of a handful right now. I swear…. Sorry about earlier, too."

"No problem," Shiro smiled cheerily. "And I would be happy to help."

As it turned out, Katie did not like Shiro. And she was stubborn. She would barely do anything with him when Shiro was trying to play with her so that Matt could have a small break. Eventually, Shiro ran out of ideas for games that his grandfather used to play with him so he started staring at the walls of Matt's room.

And then he spied a chess set.

"Hey, Katie?" Shiro asked enthusiastically.

"What?" Katie said, sounding annoyed and bored. "Do you play chess?"

"I am the _queen_ of chess," Katie said snidely.

"Well, I am just a peasant but I would love to play a game, if you would deign to compete against a lowly peon such as I," Shiro said in mock aristocracy as he bowed down to Katie.

She laughed lightly, smiling for the first time and nodded. "Yes. I would very much like that. I love reigning dominion over those lesser than me."

Shiro set up the chess board, making mistakes that Katie thought he was doing intentionally (he wasn't) to make her laugh and fix them. Once they finally got to playing, Shiro swore that he lost within five moves. Katie really was the champion. If Shiro had thought that Matt and Adam were good, they were nothing compared to Katie.

"Jesus!" Shiro sighed, leaning back. "Are you some kind of chess god?"

"Maybe…" Katie said playfully, beaming at him. "I just like memorizing Chess patterns in my head whenever I can."

Shiro shook his head. "Well you certainly proved that you are worthy for your crown."

Just then, Matt walked into the room after having left to talk to his dad, Sam. His eyes darted around the chess board, noticing Shiro's utter defeat.

"You let her play chess against you." Matt stated, almost like a question. "You, my friend, are certainly brave."

Shiro nodded, looking sheepish. "Yeah, your sister is the _bomb_ at chess. I don't think I could ever beat her."

"Probably not," Matt agreed, smiling. "And, although I would love to watch a rematch, Katie and I have to get going towards Dad. He's going to have us go see mom for today since I haven't seen her in forever."

"Do you miss mom?" Katie asked, hopping up from the chair.

"Of course I do!" Matt rolled his eyes. "I love her so of course I miss her."

"I miss seeing Dad and you," Katie admitted.

"I miss you too," Matt assured her, holding her close to him.

"Byeeeee!" Katie called, as she turned away from Shiro who was standing up awkwardly behind the display of sibling love.

"Thank you for playing chess with me!" Shiro said. "I had a lot of fun. Maybe we'll have to do it again during this break."

"Maybe…" Katie said slowly, "But I really did kick your butt."

"Katie…" Matt warned.

"Alright," she lamented. "Yes. You have a good game. Thank you for playing with me. Even if I was far superior."

Shiro couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he stepped out into the hallway so Matt could close the door and Shiro could leave. He waved goodbye to them and then turned back to head to his own dorm room.

It was past midday and he figured it wasn't a good enough time to call Sofu and have him come over, so he went back to his old schedule of binge-watching tv shows and reading Percy Jackson for the rest of the day until he passed out somewhere during the middle of _The Empire Strikes Back_.

The next day, early in the morning, Shiro called Sofu to try to ask him to come over that day, hoping that he would be able to see him.

But he never answered the phone.

Shiro tried three times and each time he only got Sofu's voicemail. On the third call, Shiro left a message asking him to call back whenever he got a chance because Shiro really wanted to see him.

He didn't call.

All day, Shiro waited by his phone, calling and emailing whenever he got too antsy.

It wasn't like Sofu to wait so long to respond back.

Eventually, Shiro passed out on the opened page of Percy Jackson, waking to find the book semi stuck to his face. As soon as he could, he checked his phone.

Nothing.

He tried calling again, despite it being four in the morning.

Nothing.

Shiro started pacing the room, beginning to panic. He was worried that something had happened to Sofu or maybe he had just lost his phone or something.

Shiro waited impatiently, nervously, twiddling his thumbs as he waited and checked his phone obsessively. He couldn't focus on the words enough to read anything and he couldn't make himself do anything of any productive value.

Once it was a more reasonable hour, Shiro wandered out to Matt's room and knocked on the door, checking his phone again while he waited for Matt to open the door. Again, no notifications or messages.

"Hey!" Shiro said, trying to sound upbeat when Matt opened the door.

"Hi, Shiro. What's up?" Matt said kindly. "Katie isn't here right now."

"Um… my grandfather isn't responding to my calls and I'm starting to worry about him," Shiro said. Matt looked confused as Shio started talking so he paused and explained how his grandfather was the one to raise him and how he was planning to see him over break but he was worried about his health.

"Okay," Matt said softly, raising his hands to calm Shiro down like he was a cornered animal. "It'll be okay. How about we go talk to my dad and he could drive you over there to see how he's doing? Would that help?"

Shiro nodded, gulping. "Yes. Yes I would like that very much."

Matt took a step forward and wrapped his arm around Shiro's shoulders, giving him a hug. "It'll be okay. Let's go find my dad."

Together they walked down the halls. Shiro couldn't stop his mind from being a miasma of worry, but it helped having Matt there.

But he wished Adam was there.

Shiro glanced at his phone again and thought about texting Adam, asking if he could talk. But he decided against it, wanting Adam to have a good vacation with his family.

Still… Shiro couldn't wait for him to get back. He had no idea how much he missed Adam and how much he was looking forward to being able to talk to him and find comfort in his smile.

Shiro waited outside in the halls, anxiously while Matt went in to talk to Sam when they arrived at the dorm room that Sam stayed in.

While he was gone, Shiro pressed his phone, looking for new messages, and then opened his messages to Adam. Hesitating, Shiro finally typed a quick message:

 **Hey! How are you? You having fun?**

Right as he pressed send, Matt and Sam walked out of the room. Sam stopped in front of Shiro, his eyebrows tilted upwards and his forehead creased in pity. "Shiro, I will most _definitely_ take you to see your grandfather. Are you ready? Do you want to head out now?"

Shiro nodded gratefully and Sam bent down to quickly give Shiro a hug. "Everything will be okay," he said softly into Shiro's ear. "If you ever need anything, I'll be here for you. Matt will too, but I have adult authority."

Shiro smiled as he stepped back. And moved to follow Sam to leave. Matt waved goodbye, saying that he would entertain Katie while they were gone.

Sam and Shiro left the building and got into Sam's minivan. They didn't talk much while they drove, Shiro only giving directions where they were needed or answering small questions that Sam asked about Shiro's sofu.

He could barely focus on his words. He was so didn't know how he was supposed to function with all of the worry in his mind.

And then they were there.

They had arrived at the house and Shiro felt like someone had just dropped ice down his shirt. He shivered and stared at the decrepit blue house with its broken wood and dirt covered white trim. It was blasting him with memories.

He could remember playing outside in the street. He could remember watching the ants crawl and naming them and telling stories about them. He could remember Sofu sitting outside in his rocking chair, reading, while Shiro ran around excitedly, spraying water from a hose.

But now all he felt was a cold sense of dread.

The car pulled to a stop and Shiro got out and ran to the front door, fumbling to get the key that was under a fake rock in the 'garden' outside. He had to try three times to unlock the door before his fingers finally cooperated and opened the door for him.

"Sofu!?" Shiro called as soon as he opened the door.

"SOFU?! It's me! Takashi! Are you here?!"

Nothing.

"SOFU?!" Shiro yelled, tearing through the house, searching everywhere.

He could so easily see his grandfather peering around the corner of the room and glaring at him, snapping that he had been sleeping peacefully. And then Shiro would hug him and go tell Sam that everything was okay.

But there was nothing.

The house was still.

Quiet.

"Sofu?!" Shiro whimpered as he stood alone in the center of the house, tears streaming down his face.

Nothing.

Nothing. _Nothing nothing NOTHING!_

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he whirled around, his heart fluttering in excitement for a split second before he recognized Sam and not Sofu.

"Shiro…" Sam said softly.

Shrio didn't wait to hear what he would say; he wrapped his arms around Sam and cried, not caring if he looked weak. Not caring if he was.

He just wanted his family.

"Shiro," Sam said again, rubbing Shiro's back as he spoke. "Let's see if he left a note or something and then we'll head to the hospital. We'll find him."

Shiro wasn't so sure but he didn't argue.

Everything was a blur.

He couldn't focus.

They didn't find any kind of note. They didn't find anything. Shiro was no detective so he wasn't even sure when Sofu had left the house.

Sam tried his best to keep Shiro calm, but Shiro wasn't able to focus through anything. He couldn't keep his thoughts straight. He was panicking.

They drove to the nearest hospital and Shiro raced out of the car, barely letting Sam put it into park before he was out and running up the steps towards the sliding glass doors.

Shiro ran in and stopped as soon as he saw the busy office filled with doctors and nurses rushing around, their hair tied back and clipboards in their hands.

"Um…?" Shiro said softly, his voice betraying him. He felt like he was just a small child, waiting to be taken care of.

He paused, hesitating long enough that Sam came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder and then turned to one of the busy nurses walking around.

"Excuse me?" Sam said and a woman stopped and looked at them.

"Yes, sir? Do you need something?"

"We were wondering if someone was admitted here recently," Sam explained.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have patient confidentiality," the nurse said, sounding not very sorry at all.

"This young man," Sam said, gesturing to Shiro, "is the man we're looking for's grandchild and his only relative. He was not notified that something had happened to his grandfather and he is looking to find out if he went to the hospital or if he went missing. With his old age, we assumed it more likely that he was at a hospital over having been abducted…"

The woman looked at Sam and then at Shiro, probably noting how different they looked and coming to the conclusion that it was unlikely they were related.

"Fine. What's the name of the patient?" the woman asked, walking around the short desk nearby to reach a computer.

"Shirogane," Shiro told her and then spelled it out while she typed slowly but deliberately.

Shiro felt a pause that seemed to stretch for eternity while the computer loaded and he waited with baited breath.

The woman sighed and Shiro felt all of the hope he had felt wash out of him like dam of a river breaking and flooding the villages downstream.

 _No._

"Well," The woman said slowly. "It seems you're in luck. He's here. He was admitted because he passed out in the middle of a grocery store and someone called 9-1-1 to get him to a hospital."

Shiro collapsed to his knees in relief. His mind felt numb. He was hearing the words as though they were a long ago echo that his mind was filing away for later.

Sofu was here.

He was here.

"His condition has been stabilized and he can probably be sent home any day now, but we wanted to keep him for some extra tests," the woman explained. "Oh… wait," She paused.

Shiro felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster that knew no bounds.

He just wanted to hear everything. He wanted the back and forth information to stop.

"They… they found something that might be wrong with his arteries… they're doing some experiments now… I can't send you up to see him, at the moment. Maybe come back in an hour or two and then I'll let you up, if he agrees."

"Okay," Shiro said, wishing more than anything that he could race up the stairs and scour every room until he found Sofu.

He looked at Sam who was smiling for Shiro. "See? Not too bad… hopefully. How about we go get your grandfather some flowers to brighten up his room?"

Shiro nodded dully, not knowing what else to do despite the fact that he wanted to sit like a potato until he was let back in the room.

"Come on," Sam said, smiling as he pulled Shiro out of the room. "Everything will be okay."


	16. Messages

Notes: Hi guys... we start getting into my favorite! Angst!

With fluff!

Thank you to everyone who is sticking with this story and putting up with my slow updates. Life went and got crazy on me so I haven't been writing much but I'm trying to get back into it and this chapter was a lot of fun to write. (I like writing angst).

* * *

Adam~

 **Shiro: Hey! How are you? You having fun?**

Adam paused, glancing at his phone. The message had been sent two hours ago but Adam had just seen it. It looked so… innocent. Shiro was just asking how things were going and trying to be nice.

But Adam knew Shiro. He knew that this wasn't just a friendly text to ask how he was doing.

Shiro had said previously that he wouldn't text Adam much so that he could hear about it in person and be more excited to see him when he got back.

Which was pretty sweet, though Adam didn't know that it meant anything. Or what it _would_ mean if it did mean something.

But… Shiro was… nervous about something. Adam could tell. He was anxious and was needing to talk.

So after revising his message a dozen times, Adam decided to press send.

 **Adam: Hiii! Things are going pretty well. My sisters are nothing but trouble, but I still love them.**

 **Are you doing okay? Feeling okay?**

Adam waited, holding his phone close to him that day until he finally received another message from Shiro.

Adam almost dropped his phone in anticipation and frantically opened messages to see what Shiro had sent.

 **Shiro: That's good. I'm excited to hear about it.**

Adam read the message over and over again. Why had Shiro not responded to his questions? What was happening?

Biting his tongue nervously, Adam began to slowly type a return message.

 **Adam: Everything going good there? Matt didn't blow up a lab, did he?**

Adam just hoped that the humor lightened the tension instead of coming off uncaring and forced.

Adam was forced to wait until Shiro replied again before he could do anything. Even his family was starting to notice how anxious he was. They asked if everything was going okay and Adam hesitated before replying. "Yes… just my friend Shiro seems to be in a bit of a rough place. I'm not sure what happened yet."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Adam's father said slowly.

"Anything _you_ can do?" Adam heard his mother scoff under her breath. "What about what _we_ can do to help?"

Shaking his head, Adam tried to switch the conversation over to Thanksgiving and what kind of foods they could cook preemptively, but no one was much for talking and there was a thick tension in the room.

Adam was used to it though. He just wished he could help his sisters to not have hear the arguing and side comments anymore. He glanced at them to find them both looking at their folded hands in their lap, not looking up at him.

Adam sighed and checked his phone, anxiously, again.

It was an hour before Shiro replied again.

 **Shiro: No. He didn't**

Adam felt ready to scream and throw his phone at Shiro. Why was he ignoring his questions? Why was he acting so standoffish? Why had he texted in the first place if he had no intention of _actually_ talking to Shiro?

Adam waited for a moment, collecting his thoughts and quelling his annoyance before he replied back.

 **Adam: Shiro, is everything okay? I'm here to talk to you if you ever need me.**

Adam closed his phone and decided to leave it in his room for thrity minutes while he helped his mom start with the apple turnovers.

Before he knew it, two hours had passed.

Without his phone right beside him, Adam had stopped thinking about it.

He realized what he had drone and dropped the pan he was, thankfully, only in the middle of washing in the sink.

"I have to go," Adam declared, racing out of the room with bubbles still on his hands.

He bounded into his room, closing the door and leaped at his phone, praying that Shiro had merely texted back or that he hadn't even replied yet.

But when Adam opened his phone, he saw three missed messages and… a missed phone call.

Adam opened the messaged first, his hands trembling.

The first one had been sent almost two hours ago… about ten minutes after his last text, it looked like.

 **Shiro: Honestly, everything is not okay. It's just… Sofu isn't doing too well and I'm worried.**

 **Shiro: Adam? Are you there? What happened was Sofu wouldn't pick up and talk to me at all, so I got worried. But Sam was nice enough to drive me to Sofu's house and then to the hospital. I found Sofu but… he's not awake right now and I can't find the doctor to give me any information.**

 **Shiro: Hey, um. Don't pay attention to the first two texts. Everything's fine. I'm good. I just want you to have a good break.**

The last message had been sent an hour ago. Shiro had called before the third message, probably to elaborate on the second.

Either way, Adam felt like horrible trash who had managed to forget about his best friend's problems and bake for two hours.

Adam felt his face heat up with emotions and he blinked his eyes several times, trying to clear his head enough so that he could speak.

When he could, Adam pressed the call button on his phone.

The rings of the phone were excruciating. They seemed to last an eternity. Going on and on just to torture Adam and prove to him how terrible of a friend he was.

And then the phone beeped and an automated voice told him that Shiro wasn't there.

Adam let his phone fall beside him as he sat down on the bed, feeling numb.

How could he have missed Shiro? How could he have missed talking to him?

And then he was pulled out of his numbness by a violent buzzing coming from his phone. Without even thinking, Adam answered the call and cried "Shiro! Shiro! I'm so sorry!"

"Adam? Adam? That's you isn't it?"

Adam felt his eyes well up cheesily. He was just so happy to hear Shiro's voice at the moment. "Yes. yes it is me. Everything okay? What's happening? Is your Sofu…?"

"He's alive," Shiro answered tiredly. I'm not sure how long… but he's alive right now."

Adam could hear the tiredness in Shiro's voice. "I'm so so sorry Shiro. I'm not going to make excuses what happened but I'm really sorry that I missed your messages. I… I wish I was there so I could hug you."

Adam sniffled loudly, figuring that Shiro would hear him but not being able to hold the mucus in his nose any longer. He wiped at the tears on his cheeks and sat quietly on the bed.

"It's not your fault," Shiro assured him. "It just… I just wanted to talk to you."

"Yes, yes. Annytime," Adam told him. "I've been worried all morning." Adam chuckled without humor, "that's actually why I didn't see your messages; I was so worried about you that I decided to leave my phone so that I would actually do something with my family. But I'm here now. What's happening? Please tell me."

The line was quiet. Shiro was silent. Adam could hear the soft wisp of his breath by the mic.

"I… Adam… they don't know how long he's going to survive. They think he might have a heart failure any day now…. "

"Oh, Shiro!" Adam whispered in sympathy, his own eyes welling up with tears as the thought about the old man. He had seemed so healthy and fine…. "I can't believe it. I'm so so sorry. When I get back from here I want to give you the biggest hug. … Please tell me if anything happens or if you just want to talk. I want to be able to be there for you and comfort you if you need it."

"Thank you," Shiro said, his voice shaking. "Thank you, that really means a lot to me."

"I will always be here for you," Adam told him smiling. He felt his face warm up slightly, though he didn't know why. His emotions had started to settle and be replaced with a worry and strong desire to comfort Shiro. "I really wish I was there right now."

"...Thank you," Shiro whispered, his voice sounding choked with emotion. "Adam… I can't wait— I'll be looking forward to seeing you again. Thank you so much for… for everything."

"Of course!" Adam said warmly.

"I have to go… Sofu's waking up. Bye, Adam."

"Goodbye, Shiro… tell me if _anything_ happens."

"Will do."

And with that, the phone hung up and Adam let his arm fall limp beside his side until he flopped back onto his bed, trying to process everything that had just happened.

He felt so bad for Shiro. He couldn't imagine being close to losing the only person who was his close family.

Though his own family wasn't that held together, either.

He wasn't sure anyone's was.


	17. Numb

Note: (Disclaimer that I don't know medical stuff and I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Can you believe that I was going to have Thanksgiving break be only one chapter originally?

And then I realized I needed at least two with Adam and another several with Shiro to make the story well rounded.

So here we are!

And I'm more or less back on schedule for writing! Huzzah!

* * *

Shiro~

"Sofu?" Shiro whispered, keeping close to his grandfather's bed.

He watched as his sofu stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. Shiro's hands were still trembling from talking to Adam and his phone lay discarded on the chair next to him.

He didn't feel like he was in the right state of mind. His emotions didn't know how to function anymore. He was stuck between feeling joy and worry and anguish and relief and compassion and… and so many more emotions that he couldn't even put a name to.

"Hey," Shiro said softly to Sofu, waiting for him to notice that he was there and that he was waiting to talk to him and see how he was doing.

"Nnhh," Sofu murmured groggily as he turned his head slightly towards Shiro, his eyes blinking open slowly. "Ta-Takashi."

"Yes!" Shiro whispered fiercely, grabbing Sofu's hand in his and holding it tightly. "I'm here. I'm here Sofu."

"Takashi," Sofu said as he relaxed back again. "I'm… I'm sur...prised—" Sofu cut off to cough lightly. And Shiro held his hand over Sofu's, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb.

"It's okay," Shiro whispered. "You don't have to talk right now. You can just rest. I'm here for you."

"But I want to... talk," Sofu said with determination. "I'm surprised that you are here."

Shiro looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but I'm on break this week so I contacted you hoping that you would be able to come over and visit." Shiro's face darkened as he remembered the events of that day. It was insane to him to think that all of that had happened only a couple of hours ago. "But when I texted you and called you, multiple times, you never came or replied. I grew worried about you so one of the teachers, this absolutely wonderful man named Sam, drove me to your house to see if everything was alright. Well of course everything was not alright and I was worried for you and panicking but Sam was able to think logically and we came to the nearest hospital, here, and that's how I got here today, now."

"That's quite the story," Sofu told him slowly. There was a pause of silence followed by Sofu coughing again, before he was able to speak. "And... I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that. I wish I could have told you or warned you or something."

Shiro smiled at him and held his hand tighter. Sofu wasn't known for his apologies so Shiro felt almost honored that he was worried for Shiro. "It's not like you knew you were going to collapse."

Sofu smiled, "If I had, I don't think I would have been picking out eggs at the supermarket. But because of that and all of the damn surgeries and anesthetics that they've been giving me, I've been hopeless to have even a moment with my own mind sound enough to talk to you. Even now, I know that I'm not in complete control of my mind."

"Sofu!" Shiro laughed. "That's a good thing! You would be so exhausted and probably in a hell lot of pain if you weren't doped up on drugs."

"Still wish I could talk to my grandson with my real mind in tact."

Even though he didn't say it Shiro could practically imagine him thinking about how he might die soon and if he were to die without getting to say a proper goodbye to Shiro...

"Well now I know that you are here," Shiro told him. "I'll make sure I visit as frequently as I can. I'll find a bus or maybe Sam can take me or something like that, but I will make sure that I see you as often as I possibly can."

"You're so sweet," Sofu huffed. "I'm definitely not giving up on life so easily. I have a lot to live for. I want to see you fly." He paused for a long while, long enough that Shiro thought he had fallen back asleep before he spoke again. "They say I don't have long left," he whispered.

The words were like a gut punch to Shiro. He really wished that they didn't have to be true. "But... probably not in the next week."

If my heart doesn't stabilize then... maybe."

Everything went quiet again. shiro didn't know what to do. He couldn't imagine losing Sofu. He couldn't face that pain- that grief- right now. He needed to be strong and savor his time with Sofu... because how many more would he have left?

Eventually, Sofu did fall back to sleep and Shiro stood up, placing a kiss on his forehead softly. He wanted to stay while Sofu slept, maybe sleep some for his own mental state but Sam came to pick him up and he was right, Shiro needed some sleep and time to think back at the dorms.

The doctor caught him when he was in the waiting room, before he walked out and sat him down again slowly. "Mr. Shirogane, how old you you?"

"Fifteen," Shiro answered.

"Is... is he your only relative?"

"Yes," Shiro couldn't stop to think more about it. he just had to answer the questions and then he could leave.

"So... as you know..." The doctor began to tell him, looking uncomfortable with her position as the bearer of bad news, "Your grandfather is going to die soon. We are going to do everything in our power to keep him alive for as long as we can, but afterwards..." She rubbed at her forehead. "You will need a family to take care of you until you become a legal adult. Do you..."

"Excuse me," Sam said as he walked up behind Shiro and started talking to the doctor, "But as this young man's chauffeur, I happen to know a bit about what's going on. And as his teacher, I know what his family situation is like. Because of that, I know that this is a bit of a special case.

"But Shiro also attends the Galaxy Garrison. I think that I can arrange Shiro to be able to stay in his dorm until he graduates, and when he graduates, he will be an adult capable of legally making his own decisions."

"I'm no social worker," the doctor told him. "If you believe that is what is right, then I will too. ... And I probably shouldn't be doing this but would you sign this paper that we may perform surgeries to save this man for as long as we are able to."

"Of course," Sam said, grabbing the paper and preparing to sign it. "If Shiro doesn't mind..."

"No, go ahead," Shiro said numbly. He felt numb about everything. He didn't know what to think of. He didn't know how to function with his emotions.

The entire drive back Shiro was numb.

He was numb while he showered, while he wandered through the dorm.

He looked at Adam's empty bed and found himself missing his friend. He had only been gone a few days but he missed him.

So much had happened.

Shiro tried to block his mind, to stop himself from thinking about it.

He tried to fall asleep.

He didn't end up asleep until nearly ten, having done nothing but think about how lonely and quiet it was in the dorm rooms.


	18. White Cloud

Note: Hello my loyal friends and newcomers! Sorry it has been two+ weeks. I was busy one week and sick the other...

anyway here is a really long chapter I mostly wrote today! Yay! (I got really into the story and angst is my forte)

enjoy!

* * *

Adam~

Everything was different.

Adam didn't know why but everything that he was used to and familiar with felt different.

It felt like these people weren't his family. They weren't the same at least.

He wondered if it was his fault for leaving…

But things were so tense.

Normally he and his mom spend thanksgiving and the day before it baking and sometimes Ellois would help because she liked baking but wouldn't admit it.

Adam's dad and Odina would sit in front of the TV and watch the Thanksgiving day parade, instead of helping.

Unless Adam and his mom charged them with peeling potatoes or apples while they were watching.

But this year, they didn't turn on the parade. This year, there was a strange silence.

This year, everything felt off.

And it didn't help that Adam was anxious about Shiro and just wanted to be there for him and comfort him as he was going through such a hard time.

"What next?" Adam sighed, snapping himself out of his thoughts as he dumped the sliced apples into their cinnamon concoction to cook slowly.

"I'm not sure," his mom said quietly, looking around the kitchen. "You could make cookies."

"Cookies?" Adam asked. He wasn't used to cookies at thanksgiving.

"Well we haven't seen you in a while…" his mom trailed off. "I thought you might like to make them for us."

Adam, apparently had stellar cookies that no one could rival. They were this dark cinnamon spice cookies that even people who didn't like cake spices seemed to like.

Maybe he would bring some back for Shiro. Or make some there. Maybe that would help bring a bit of familital comfort.

Adam started the recipe, watching his mom out of the corner of his eye. They liked his cookies plenty, but Adam felt off about this request. Usually they only made these cookies when something bad had happened.

And if nothing was wrong, usually his mom helped him (if poorly).

But she stayed over on the side, working on her stuffing, slowly and carefully She was being much more meticulous than usual, too.

Adam, on the other hand, added spices and flour and sugar distractedly, working more by memory than by measurements. He didn't have the energy to measure everything perfectly.

"Hey," Odina said, stepping up behind Adam and placing her hand gently on his shoulder. "Can I help roll the balls of dough?"

Adam almost turned her down, but he was tired of listening to silence.

"Sure," he said, smiling warmly. He showed her how to make balls with the dough and how to roll it in sugar to give the last coating on the top.

It was slow, and they were uneven, but Adam didn't mind.

It was a kind of peace. A nice peace that he hadn't had while he had been back.

"What!" Odina cried sacractically, "You took my dough!"

"Did not," Adam argued childishly. "And this is communal dough."

"You took dough from the side I was using. Now we won't know who was faster at making the balls."

"Oh, it was a competition was it?" Adam snorted. "'Cause I think I'm winning."

Odina stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at him, dusting his shirt and his apron in white.

"Whoaaaa," Adam said darkly. "It. Is. _On_!"

He darted around her and snatched the bowl of flour, cupping it against his side with his arm while he continued to run around her, throwing handfuls of white powder at her every chance he got.

"No fair!" Odina laughed, lunging at Adam's ankles to trip him."You can't steal the flour!"

"Alright…." Adam paused, a smirk appearing on his lips. "I'll give it back…"

Odina immediately saw what he was thinking, a look of panicked dread coming over her face. "Wait! No! Keep it!"

"Nope!" Adam laughed joyfully while he tossed the bowl's contents onto Odina, covering her in white powder as it puffed around around her.

Adam gave her a moment while she was coughing and wiping the majority off of her face before she opened her eyes and glared at him.

Adam smirked, bowl beside him on the counter, and his arms folded across his chest triumphantly.

"Ohhhh…." Odina glared, shaking her finger while clouds of white puffed around her with every movement. "I… I can't believe you did that…" As she spoke, instead of her words turning to malice, they sounded almost cheerful. Slowly, her scowl twisted upwards into a sneer, her eyes still full of death and vengeance.

Adam was afraid.

"I just… I just love you so much Adam," Odina said through gritted teeth. "I think you might need a _ginormous_ hug."

"Wait!" Adam yelped, understanding as she spread her arms wide and moved towards him slowly.

"I just want to show you how much I _missed_ you and _love_ you and _care_ for you!" Odina smirked cheerfully as she lunged at him.

Adam dodged, barely, and held up his arms in surrender. "Look! I'm sorry! Peace?"

"Not on your life," Odina laughed, faking left and lunging right. Adam fell for it and she wrapped her arms around him while she tackled him to the ground.

Adam landed with an _oof_ while Odina buried her face into his chest, wiping flour all over him.

And then, out of _nowhere,_ Adam and Odina were lost in a sudden wave of icy water.

"MmmblAHHHRG!" Adam spluttered, wiping at his face and coughing.

Odina elbowed him in the stomach and kneed him in the groin in her attempt to escape the water, crumpling Adam into a ball while he coughed and whimpered.

Above him, he could hear the cackling of Ellois, holding the bowl that had been for flour, now dripping with water.

Odina sat with her arms behind her while she panted and dripped water. Her face and hair were a pasty white from the wet flour clinging to her skin.

"God," she muttered. "Ellois… you… are going... To die for that!"

Ellois said nothing, cackling like a witch too hard to be able to say anything while Adam lay on the ground, also pasty and covered in wet flour, but in too much pain to do anything.

"Death," Adam huffed, his voice still slightly higher than he would have liked, "Sounds good."

In a rush, Adam watched as Odina stood up and tackled her twin in one rushed movement, smothering her in her wet floured self.

Ellois twisted and wormed her way out of Odina's grasp, scrambling on the floor until she was able to dash away.

Adam focused on pulling himself to his feet, getting ready to chase after the both of them.

He knew he was faster and a bit stronger than them, being a few years older and a bit bigger. He had held them both down before and he would do it again.

Almost slipping in the flour-y puddle on the floor, Adam managed to run and took off at a sprint after his sisters.

Just as he was chasing them, getting close enough to reach them and grab them, he was tugged sharply backwards by the collar of his shirt. Adam choked on the sudden cloth pressing into his jugular, stumbling backwards and almost falling down. He was shoved to the side, the grasp on his shirt released while his mother leapt forward and snatched Odina and Ellois, pulling them by their ears towards her.

"Gah!" The yelped as they were shoved next to Adam.

Their mom stood before them, glaring with hate in her eyes.

Adam's body began to shake, though, he couldn't tell if it was because of his wet clothes or fear.

His mom stared at him with the purest form of rage that he had seen in a long time. She was utterly silent, the only noise in the room coming from the siblings labored breathing from the sudden stop to their game and the drip of water as a puddle slowly formed under Odina and Adam.

Their mom just _stared_ at them, making them regret everything and feel the full extent of her fury. Adam shifted his weight, wishing that he could put all of them in a bubble and never come out.

"I'm very disappointed in you," their mother said at last, her gaze shifting between each of them.

Adam, without thinking, stepped forward, his eyes downcast and his shoulders scrunched upwards, "It was my fault. Blame me. I was just trying to have fun."

Adam bit his tongue, hating the passive aggressive jab he had made at the end. He tried so hard to not be passive aggressive.

Like a viper attacking, his mother lashed out, grabbing his ear and pulling his head towards her face. "It. Is. _Everyone's_. Fault!" She hissed into his ear before letting go and forcefully shoving him into the wall next to his sisters.

"I started it!" Odina said suddenly, looking up and defiantly into her mother's eyes.

Adam saw their mother's rage turn onto her and he wanted to leap forward and become a shield for her.

"You _all_ acted inappropriately. You made an _enormous_ mess which you will now be spending the rest of the day cleaning and dedicating yourselves to a good day with our family."

She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb. "Adam," She said, turning to glare at him, "You are older and more responsible, and right now? Right now I don't really believe that you are mature enough to be by yourself at a _prestigious_ school. So, I can't exactly ground you for a handful of days, so instead I'm taking your phone until you leave and you had _better_ focus on regaining my trust and working towards making me understand that you are, indeed, capable of acting like a responsible adult."

Adam opened his mouth to argue, hot tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

He hated getting yelled at. He hated not defending himself. But when he opened his mouth, no sound came out of his throat and he was stuck in eternal fear and shakiness.

His mother turned her attention to Odina. "You, _you_ indeed started this which was entirely inappropriate behavior not befitting someone your age. She glared at Ellois too as her voice dropped and she growled, "Both of you know what this week, this _day_ , means to us. Both of you know how hard everything is. Why do you have to make it more difficult than it needs to be?"

She shook her head. "You know what? I'll deal with you two later. For now, go clean up the floors and counters. _All_ of them. And then you'll be spending the evening happily with our family and at the end of the day, you'll all be sequestered in your rooms for the evening."

Everyone nodded with their heads downcast. Adam could still feel his heart racing, the thumps echoing in his ears as he bowed his head low, ashamed.

Their mom took a step back, still staring at them, but let them walk away. Adam noticed his father standing awkwardly in the living room, doing nothing.

He expected him to get the next earful, based on prior triends, but instead his mother just stared at him, took a deep breath to calm her anger, and then turned away while shaking her head in disappointment.

Cleaning the floors, Adam tried to think over what he had seen. He was so used to his parents fighting that it was strange to have peace.

And now that he thought about it, they had been acting oddly quiet all week. When he had left, it was hard for them to even keep their peace in the presence of Shiro. It didn't seem possible for them to be able to be kind to each other for an entire week just for Adam's sake.

 _What if…?_

 _No…_

 _Yes…?_

Adam didn't know what to think. Maybe he would ask Ellois and Odina later. Even if he wanted to protect them, they were the ones suffering the brunt of it and Adam was the one feeling protected.

Adam blinked, realizing that his part of the floor was clean. It was fairly easy to clean something that was already wet and half dissolved, so he found.

And even through the allencompasing silence that felt oppressive and strong, his own dark thoughts had been able to combat the stillness around him to the point that he didn't even feel as though any time had passed.

Adam stood up, having already dried the floor, and looked around. Ellois was busy cleaning the other part of the floor where Adam had thrown the bowl of flour and Odina was wiping off the counter.

Adam bit his lip, not wanting to be the first one done.

He saw his and Odina's balls of dough on the counter, a few of them dusted with an extra layer of flour than they had needed. He left them. He didn't want anything to do with them, at the moment.

Swallowing, Adam took the few cleaning supplies that he had and walked away towards the sink, rinsing out the cloth he had been using.

"Good," his mother said tartly, appearing behind him like an apparition.

Adam jumped but managed not to react audibally, which he was kind of proud of.

"You can go to your room to clean up— you're still covered in flour. I expect you back here in no more than thirty minutes with a smile on your face for our guests. I don't care if it's a fake smile, just make it a smile."

Adam nodded and tried to dash away from the tension and the room.

How could Thanksgiving have gone so wrong?

"Ahem," his mother said. Adam flinched and turned around, waiting to see what he had missed. "You're phone? I need it."

Adam swallowed thickly. "Mom…" he said slowly, forcing himself to look her in the eye unflinchingly. That would help ground his position. "May I please keep my phone _because_ my roommate, Shiro, he's going through a really hard time and I told him I would be there for him if he needed."

"So, if he texts you're going to fly back?" His mom rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"No," Adam said calmly, keeping his voice level. "I would like to be there to text or call him if he needs me."

Adam stared at his mom, biting the edge of his lip (hopefully unnoticeably) as he awaited her verdict.

"No."

"What?!" Adam cried before he inhaled sharply and forced himself back to calmness.

"I will let you check later tonight _AFTER_ everyone leaves. For tonight, it is family night and Shiro should be spending it with his own family anyway."

Adam opened his mouth to argue that that was just the problem and that Adam felt like he was a part of Shiro's family, when he thought better of it. Those were Shiro's stories. His secrets.

Adam closed his mouth, pressing his lips together in a tight grimace. He handed over his phone wordlessly and turned around on his heel, walking away quickly. He could feel his face heating up and his eyes stinging with tears. Now was no time to let them see him cry.

He didn't even know why he was crying. He had no reason to be.

… No…

Adam knew why he was crying. He was ashamed. He knew that he shouldn't have acted so childishly despite the fact that school was hard and he missed home. Shiro was amazing, but he missed having parents that he could rely on and his sisters to torment and play with.

And everything at home was still so stressful and strained.

And then Shiro was going to _so much crap_ that he just wanted to be there to help him, in any way he could.

It wasn't fair that Shiro had to go through so much, as well.

Adam closed the door behind him after he entered his room and stormed around for a minute, very conscientious of the water trail he was leaving on the carpet.

He stared at his suitcase in the corner, almost wishing that he could pack it and just head back to the Garrison. Another part of him would have liked to destroy it in a fire, never to be seen again.

Adam shook his head, not even sure what to feel anymore and grabbed a handful of what he presumed to be clean clothes, not caring very much. He rushed out of his room, letting the door swing behind him and dashed into the bathroom. He locked the door and got ready to take a shower, turning the water as hot as it would go before stepping in.

What was he doing?

Why was everything happening?

Were his parents getting divorced? Why weren't they telling him? Did they think he couldn't tell?

But… if it hadn't been for today, would he have been able to tell? Would he have gone back to Shiro clueless?

And what about his sisters? How were they fairing? Did they know? Did they suspect it?

How long?

Adam felt the questions racing through his head like a thundering storm, lightning crashing at every turn so there wasn't a second of silence. He clutched his head, water spilling over him and mixing with the hot tears racing down his face.

He let the roar of the shower drown out his sobs as his whole body shook.

Why?

Why why why why why why why?

Why hadn't he noticed sooner?

Why hadn't he been there for his sisters?

Why was his family breaking apart? His and Shiro's were both fracturing into a million shards.

Why was everything uncertain?

Why was everything in life so unfair?

Adam thought about those movies where everything was perfect and the families stayed together with their two parents forever. He thought about how it always seemed like everything went so well for everyone and the biggest drama they ever had was their daughter bringing home some new boyfriend and everyone getting into a tizzy over it.

Why couldn't Adam deal with problems like that instead of his _whole world changing_?

…

After a while, he just felt numb.

He couldn't feel anything.

He had let his shower run cold.

He hadn't noticed.

His eyes and face stung mildly but no new tears fell.

Adam swallowed the thick saliva coating his mouth and turned off the water.

Once again, he was faced with the roar of a deafening silence.

But he fit right in with the emptiness.

Adam dried himself off slowly, not caring how long he had been in there. He didn't want to leave.

But like a clockwork machine he got dressed, combed his hair, and made himself mildly presentable. He left the bathroom slowly, dirty clothes in his arms, and walked back into his room to deposit them on the otherwise clean floor.

He didn't want to leave.

But like a machine, he did.

…

Dinner was a long time coming. Adam stayed to the back, doing menial tasks instead of preparing any big meals. After showering, Odina and Ellois joined him but none of them said anything. They had nothing to say.

When their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins arrived, the house came alive with noise.

But not with spirit. At least not for Adam.

He smiled through dinner and made pleasant conversation with the adults who asked him about the harrison and how things were going.

But he barely heard a word of it.

He thought about Shiro and how he might be texting something important and Adam might be missing it again.

But… it didn't matter.

Adam couldn't look at his phone anyway.

Everyone stayed late and gorged themselves on food followed by pie. Adam tasted none of it. He heard his mother's fake laugh and his father's rough cough anytime he was trying too hard to seem amused. He noticed the glazed looks in Odina and Ellois's faces as well.

And Adam noticed the dough for his cookies still on the counter, unbaked and untouched.

And so, when it was late enough that it was time for everyone to head back, Adam barely felt the hugs goodbye and he only really felt their presence was missing when the intense silence returned to the house.

The three siblings cleaned up in silence, washing dishes and working like a team to move as efficiently as possible.

After they were done, Odina and Ellois shuffled slowly towards their rooms, exhaustion evident in their faces.

Before Adam could join them, he turned to his mom who handed him his phone. "Ten minutes."

Adam nodded and took it greedily, preparing himself to see a plethora of messages from Shiro asking what was wrong and where he was and if he could talk.

But there was nothing.

No messages.

Adam opened the phone, slowly, dejectedly. He began to type out a message to Shiro.

 **Adam: Hey, Shiro! Happy Thanksgiving! I got grounded so I may not be able to text or call immediately. I'll still be here if you need it. But… I might not be here immediately…. I'm sorry.**

 **Is everything going okay for you? Well… I'm guessing it's not. I just…**

Adam stopped typing, rereading his message a dozen times before finally deciding to hold the backspace and close his phone, handing it back to his mom without any sent messages and no notifications.

He walked silently into the hallway where the bedrooms were and collapsed in the hallway beside his door, not going in.

He rested his head against the wall behind him, his eyes closed and his mind a whilwind of emotions and hurt.

"Hi," He heard Ellois say softly as she settled down next to him.

"Hi,"Adam responded quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper.

He expected Ellois to talk. He expected her to have something that she wanted to tell him.

But she didn't. She stayed silent. Resting her head on his shoulder and leaning against his arm.

Some time later, Odina joined them, sitting across the hallway, hugging her knees.

None of them said anything. They stayed together in each other's company.

Adam almost felt like dozing, but he knew that he couldn't actually fall asleep.

"I'm sorry," Odina said softly, her eyes not looking up to meet his and her mouth covered as her head was buried in her arms, hugging her knees. "We weren't supposed to tell you."

"Odina," Ellois said softly, tiredly.

"Adam already knows," Odina sighed, lifting her head up to stare at the ceiling. "He was the first to tell us to look for signs."

Adam swallowed, his suspicions confirmed for him. "How long?"

Ellois shrugged against him. "I don't remember. Three weeks maybe?"

"Dad's already moved out to a new place," Odina told him quietly.

"We alternate weekends," Ellois told him, her voice muffled with tears.

"It isn't so bad," Odina whispered. "It's quieter."

Adam hadn't realized he was holding his breath until he sucked in a breath that came out like a gasp. A fat teardrop landed on his hand and he let it. He let his tears fall. He didn't move while his shoulder shook and tears slipped down his face.

Tears he hadn't thought he still had.

"I'm sorry," Ellois whispered.

Adam said nothing.

Odina moved to his other side.

Through his blurry vision, Adam could see tears running down her cheeks. He reached up and gently wiped them away with his thumb. And she settled down next to him, a faint, sad smile spreading across her face.

"We've really broken haven't we?" Adam whispered once his tears had subside some.

"Fractured," Ellois replied thoughtfully as she rubbed her thumb on the back of Adam's hand. "We're still together."

Adam smiled without humor. He felt so empty and helpless.

"Was it… was it because of me?" Adam murmured so quietly that it was like the flutter of a butterfly.

"No," Odina said softly. "No."

But she didn't elaborate. She didn't need to. Adam had seen the signs even before he had left.

"Were they going to tell me?" Adam asked.

"I don't know," Ellois responded. "Maybe. They wanted Thanksgiving to be peaceful for you."

"Some peace," Adam commented sarcastically.

They were quiet after that. But it was a different kind of quiet. A peaceful kind.

A kind that lasted until they all drifted off to sleep at some ungodly hour in the morning only to wake up sore several hours later, feeling mentally refreshed and comforted.

And able to take a newfound refuge in each other.


	19. Airport

Note: Hello everyone! Part three of the story commences!

and we aren't even a semester into the school...

Anyway, Enjoy!

* * *

Shiro~

Shiro waited anxiously at the airport, attempting not to fall asleep in the chairs. Sam had let him tag along to pick up the students who were on vacation to go see their families over the break.

Actually, Shiro hadn't planned on going, but when Sam came to check on him... well...

Over the last several days, Shiro had barely been able to sleep. He had been staying by Sofu's bedside, waiting and ready whenever Sofu woke up enough to have a conversation with him. As a result, Shiro had barely slept in the last several days. He hadn't heard from Adam and he hadn't had the heart to talk to him again.

Even though he was itching to text him and ask if he was safe. Planes made him mildly nervous. More specifically, the idea of planes made him slightly nervous considering he had never actually been on one and had no intention of doing so any time soon.

Sam patted his shoulder and Shiro jerked his head up, trying to force himself awake. "They're coming out of the terminal," Sam told him pointing to a large group of travelers coming from the inner parts of the airport. Shiro couldn't tell if any of them were Adam but he stood up and walked closer anyway, his tired eyes darting between all of the faces he saw, scanning for Adam's dark tanned face with those square classes and tufts of light brown hair.

Almost like a magnet, Shiro felt his eyes find Adam and lock onto him. Immediately he felt his face light up and he started running, stumbling forward more than keeping his balance, but that was okay.

"Adam!" Shiro cried excitedly when he got closer. Adam's face looked weathered and tired, as though he had aged by ten years in the span of a week.

And yet, as soon as he saw Shiro, his face brightened and his mouth widened into a grin. He dropped the pillow and bag in his arms to the ground and ran towards Shiro, stopping just before he crashed into him.

"Shiro!" Adam cried, smiling, and then his face fell slightly and he looked down. "I... I'm sorry your week was so..."

Before Adam could finish his thought, Shiro wrapped his arms around Adam, tucking his head into the crook of Adam's neck and placing his hands on Adam's back, holding him close. "I missed you," Shiro said, closing his eyes as he felt Adam's warmth.

Slowly, Adam returned Shiro's hug and rested his own head on Shiro's shoulder in turn. "I wish I could have been here."

Shiro held him close, having no intention to stop his hug. "Me too. But it was good for you to see your family."

"Yeah," Adam said, his voice lowering in dejection. His hold on Shiro loosened and, though he didn't want to, Shiro pulled back and looked into Adam's face.

"What's wrong?" Shiro asked, noticing the heavy bags under Adam's eyes and his half-smile.

"It's nothing," Adam shook his head, attempting a half smile for Shiro.

Shiro knew he was lying, though. He didn't trust anything that Adam said. But he wouldn't make him talk here. He would ask again later... back in their dorm room. "Okay," he said slowly, swallowing and returning Adam's weak smile.

Shiro stood by Adam's side while he got his baggage and they waited for another kid or two to arrive before they loaded into Sam's van, Shiro sitting next to Adam, and drove back to the Garrison.

The drive was full of silence and awkward pop music playing through the car stereo.

But Shiro wasn't exactly happy to return to the Garrison. He realized that he hadn't really been back in several days for more than a meal or a shower or to sleep while his grandfather 'rested.'

Shiro knew he wouldn't get better.

He just wanted to be by his side.

He wanted to be there for when... for if...

He wanted to be able to say goodbye.

He hadn't realized that he was shaking until he felt Adam's touch on his hand, jogging him from his own mind. Shiro blinked and noticed that he was trying to use his room key to open their door and failing, shaking too badly to fit the key into the slot. Adam had grabbed Shiro's hand and helped him slide the key in so that they could open the door.

Adam dropped his suitcases to the ground with a thump as the door clicked behind them, isolating them in the quiet.

Shiro sat on his bed and gestured for Adam to join him, which he did, taking off his shoes and folding his legs cross-legged.

They sat in silence for a minute until Shiro finally decided to speak first. "I... I know that... that I've been going through a rough time... but that doesn't mean I want to negate your feelings so... so what happened?"

Adam turned his head away and opened his mouth to start saying 'nothing.'

Before he could, Shiro cut him off, his eyes closed as he quickly said, "And don't say 'nothing' because I _know_ that something happened and I want to help. I want to be there for you. Like you were for me."

Adam nodded, still not looking at Shiro.

"I feel... It feels insignificant compared to your problems..." Adam said softly. "But... my parents... they divorced."

Silence fell over the room like a nuclear bomb had been dropped.

Shiro closed his eyes, nodding.

"I know what a fractured family can be," Shiro whispered, "And no part of it is fun. But... all wounds will heal with time. You just have to wait. Someday it won't be... Someday this will be the best answer and you won't be able to imagine a different way of living."

Adam nodded and leaned back until his head was resting on the wall behind him. "Apparently it happened a couple of months ago... they were trying to keep everything... perfect for me. But I figured it out."

Shiro nodded, leaning back and leaning his head towards Adam, not touching him but getting closer.

"The worst part?" Adam laughed lowering his chin to his chest, "The worst part is that everyone... my sisters... they knew. Everyone knew. Everyone but me. And I wasn't there. I couldn't help them. I couldn't hold them together or help be a safe place for them."

Shiro glanced at Adam and saw him blinking rapidly.

"I couldn't be there..." Adam whispered, choking on his words as a sob escaped his throat.

Shiro wrapped one arm behind Adam and one arm in front of him in a hug from the side. He rested his head on Adam's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"And I couldn't protect them," Adam cried, not moving but not pushing Shiro away either. "And... I've cried too much already. My eyes hurt and my throat is raw."

"I understand," Shiro whispered. "I really do. I don't know how many nights I've gotten no sleep from crying through the night. I don't know how many nights I've sat wishing I could have been there or that I could have protected Sofu more. Losing those that you love can be the hardest thing... No. It _is_ the hardest thing."

Adam sighed, tilting his head so it rested on Shiro's.

"Thank you... That... that means a lot to me... it really does."

Shiro smiled and held Adam close to him.

"How is... Sofu?" Adam asked cautiously.

"Dying," Shiro bit out sharply. "I don't know when... but he's going to die."

Adam shifted so that his back was more facing Shiro and Shiro's arms were wrapped around Adam's middle.

"Can... could I come with you?" Adam asked softly.

"Sure," Shiro murmured softly. "I'm sure he would be happy to hear from you. Or anyone else, really."

Adam rested his head on Shiro's chest, leaning into him while Shiro leaned back against the pillow of his bed. Adam's pillow technically.

"Thank you," Adam whispered, his voice slow.

They stayed talking like that for a little while until they both slowed down their stories and conversation.

They both relaxed.

They felt a comfort they hadn't felt in a week.

They felt warm and accepted and at peace.

And in that state, they drifted off to sleep with Adam leaning against Shiro's chest and Shiro's arms around him.

Together and comforted.


	20. Warm

Note: arghhhh I had this done last sunday but then Spring break happened and I had no internet to publish this so now you guys get two chapters! Yay!

I didn't publish this yesterday because mental health is fun! (that is sarcasm. MI sucks and I hope that anyone reading this knows that you ARE NOT ALONE and people DO care about you in this world)

WOW! Thank you to the person who pointed this out! I posted the wrong chapter. This one comes before the one where Adam met with Sofu. I am so sorry for the confusion.

Okay, onto my adorable soon to be really gay children!

* * *

Adam~

Adam woke up groggily to find warmth surrounding him.

He snuggled into it, pleasantly surprised.

And then he felt the arms around him tighten and felt the rise and fall of the chest beneath his head.

Adam swallowed and turned his head to find Shiro, holding him close and keeping him warm and comforted.

Adam's first instinct was to jump away and pretend that nothing had happened and hope that Shiro didn't remember holding him all night.

But… at the same time… it was really nice. Shiro was warm and strong and comfortable.

Adam decided to snuggle into him a little bit more, using his arms to hold onto Shiro's.

 _What am I doing?_

 _Why am I doing this?_

 _Is this something that we should be doing? Is this weird?_

Anxiety gripping his mind, Adam tried to force himself to relax. The hold Shiro had on him felt like it was the only thing holding back the panic, but Adam felt the anxiety winning.

He glanced at the clock which read 7:14.

 _Crap._

They needed to get up and get ready for school at 8:00.

Adam turned his face up towards Shiro's peaceful one, the words caught in the back of his throat. Shiro just looked so peaceful and content, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly opened with sleep.

Adam steeled himself and whispered, "Shiro?" as simultaneously sharply and gently as he could.

Shiro stirred, his arms tightening around Adam and his head nestling into the top of Adam's hair.

"Shiro?" Adam said a bit more forcefully despite the hesitation in his voice. He hadn't experienced something like this. He didn't know if he liked it. He didn't _dislike_ it.

"Five more minutes, Adam," Shiro grumbled.

"I wish…" Adam said, his voice low and quiet, knowing that five more minutes would turn into twenty and be the doom of him. "But we have to get ready for school now."

"Nooo," Shiro groaned, Almost rolling over with Adam still in his arms.

"Takashi?" Adam tried wondering if Shiro's full name would wake him up.

It did. Shiro opened his eyes, still groggy and stared at Adam.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, his arms retracting hurriedly from Adam and his face turning red as he blinked sleep from his eyes.

Adam immediately felt the lack of warmth of Shiro's arms but he did know that they had to get up. And sort their minds.

"No," Adam whispered, standing and stretching. "We both missed each other and hadn't had a good night of rest so we just... fell asleep in each other's arms."

Shiro nodded slowly and stood up.

Adam, panicking, went to get a change of clothes and changed in the bathroom.

When he walked back, Shiro still stood in the middle of their room, clothes in his arms and his hair disheveled amazingly.

He was blinking as though still confused and dazed.

"Is— is everything okay?" Adam stuttered, unnerved, worried that Shiro would hate him for falling asleep on top of him last night. He still couldn't believe that had actually happened. "If… if it's about last night then I'm really so—"

"No," Shiro interrupted. "Well, not exactly. More… are you _sure_ I didn't miss anything?"

Adam swallowed, trying to think about what Shiro meant. "I— like I said… we were both just distracted and tired…"

"This morning you called me 'Takashi,'" Shiro said bluntly.

Adam swallowed, feeling awkward about it for some reason that he couldn't decipher. "Yes? That's you're full name right?"

"It's my _first_ name," Shiro clarified, not meeting Adam's eyes.

"Yeah…?" Adam said, knowing that he was missing something for sure.

"Well," Shiro paused awkwardly, "In… in Japanese culture… using a person's first name without honorifics is either considered an insult, or..." Shiro licked his lips, finding extreme interest in the floor beneath his feet. "Or it's something that Lovers are allowed to use. Or family members. But um… yeah…"

Adam blinked rapidly, taking everything in.

He had called Shiro by his special name, while Shiro had been holding him, and they had been sleeping cuddled together.

But that didn't mean anything.

They were roommates.

They were friends.

Heck, they were both boys.

Adam hadn't exactly sat down to think about his sexuality or dating in general. He was used to all of the boys dating girls… That's what he figured was expected of him. And, anyway, he was too focused on being a pilot to find romance anywhere.

Adam laughed nervously, putting a hand to his head in shame. "Oops! I'm sorry, Shiro! I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I was just trying to wake you up."

Shiro smiled, finally seeming to come to and realize that it was just a big mistake. "That's okay… that's just why I was so out of sorts."

"No problem," Adam said _way_ too cheerily. _Why do I sound so fake? I'm talking to_ Shiro. _Shiro is chill with everything. Shiro and I are friends. Friends._

Adam felt the word ingrain itself into his head though he didn't know why.

"We're good now?" Adam asked, making sure that the air between them was clear and comfortable again.

"Yep," Shiro replied, still facing away from Adam and his voice higher than it had been, but his face was brighter and cherrier.

Everything settled, the pair got ready for school, trying their best to make small talk about their weeks.

"How much did you get to read in Percy Jackson?" Adam asked, hoping that Shiro had had time to read and wasn't too stressed about his grandfather.

A warm smile passed over Shiro's face, though, and he gestured to the two books that were lying on Adam's bed. "A lot actually. I finished the first two pretty early in the week. Honestly with everything going on, they were perfect to read."

"Did you like them?" Adam asked, excitedly, "Do you want to read more of them?"

"Definitely," Shiro nodded. "I like a lot of the characters.I think either Grover or Annabeth are my favorites, though."

Adam smirked, "You're not one of the Percy lovers?"

"Eh," Shiro shrugged, "I'm okay with him. He's a good protagonist but kind of an idiot. Like he just rushes into things without thinking about them and they happen to work out well. Mostly because of Annabeth."

Adam couldn't help but laugh. "True, but that kind of sounds like you, honestly,"

"Hey!" Shiro said playfully, "I can be smart!"

"Yeah… if I help you," Adam teased.

"Oh fine,"Shiro grumbled. "You'll just be Annabeth."

Adam rolled his eyes, opening the door to the hallway for Shiro and him to leave. "Yeah, sure, I'll keep you out of trouble as best as I can… Seaweed Brain."

"Well, thank you," Shiro told him, smiling and rolling his eyes.

Adam smiled back, happy that he and Shiro were doing okay. Happy that he had another family back at the Garrison. Happy that everything was a little bit more normal.


	21. Focus

Note: And chapter two for this week!

...

* * *

Shiro~

Why couldn't Shiro focus?

It was stupid that he couldn't focus.

It was all just a simple misunderstanding.

Adam hadn't known what calling him 'Takashi' meant. And sure, _here_ it didn't mean much but to him and his sofu, it meant a lot.

Sofu was the first and only person to call him Takashi. He wanted it to stay like that unless he dated someone really special to him.

But… he wasn't mad at Adam.

He was nervous.

He had woken up several times in the night whenever Adam would shift and Shiro would smile and wrap his arms a little tighter around Adam because he liked the warmth and the comfort that Adam brought him.

It seemed absurd that they had only known each other for a couple of months, they were so close.

But Adam was his family. So were Sam and Matt.

Shiro swallowed, forcing his eyes to focus on the front board as he tried to take in the math lesson. He was already bad enough at Math when he did pay attention.

But… he knew Adam would be there to help him.

His mind flashed back to the feeling of Adam laying on him, his arms holding Shiro's close.

When Adam had called him 'Takashi,' Shiro had been half afraid that he had said something in the middle of the night that he hadn't meant to say.

Not that he liked Adam in that way.

They were roommates and friends and comrades and…

"Shiro?" Mrs. Montegomery asked, calling him out in class.

"Yes, ma'am?" Shiro perked up, trying to seem attentive.

"Can you answer the question on the board?"

Shiro swallowed and stared at the board, trying to make sense of the algebra. He should know this. He knew that it should be easy, but he couldn't make his mind focus. He was too distracted.

"Or are you too busy thinking about the latest Garrison gossip or a crush?" Mrs. Montegomery teased jokingly.

Shiro forced his eyes forward, his face heating up, though he wasn't sure why.

But the teasing somehow jump started his brain and he was able to answer the question, seconds before Mrs. Montegomery called on a different student.

"Very good, Shiro," Mrs. Montegomery commented before continuing onwards.

Shiro breathed out a sigh of relief. But, he felt eyes prickling the hairs at the back of his neck. Someone was watching him— he was sure of it.

He glanced around until his eyes locked with Adam's. Adam was staring at him, an eyebrow quirked up in question.

Shiro shrugged in dismissal and turned his head back to the front of the room.

After class, Adam dashed over to Shiro. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Hm? Yes!" Shiro protested, probably too quickly, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Hey!" Matt said stepping over to them before Adam could answer. "Adam! Welcome back!" he leaned in and gave Adam a brotherly hug before turning to Shiro. "Hey man! Everything alright? You were acting a little off in class."

Adam gestured to Matt in a ' _SEE! I'm not crazy!'_ way.

"I, uh—"

"Were you just thinking about your grandfather?" Matt asked and then immediately covered his mouth. "I'm sorry that was an insensitive thing to say!"

"No, no!" Shiro said, taking the idea and running with it. "Don't feel bad. It's okay. I'm just a bit worried with it being my first day back at school and away from the hospital."

Adam opened his mouth in an _'oh_.'

"I bet that my dad would take you to go see him after computer science?" Matt suggested.

"Yeah," Shiro nodded subduedly. "I would like that."

After their computer science class where Shiro was able to function moderately better than he he had in mathematics, Shiro walked up to Adam, taking a deep breath to steel himself, and asked his question. "Adam… would you want to come with me to see Sofu?"

Adam looked taken aback. "Isn't that your time with your grandfather? Isn't it your special time?"

"Sure but Sofu might like to see that I have a family here with you and Sam and Matt. That I have a place at the Garrison."

Adam hesitated barely a moment before nodding. "Okay. I would like to meet him one last time, too."

"Alright… and, thank you, Adam."

Together, they went with Sam (as he talked to them cheerily and blasted awkward pop music through the radio) to the Hospital.

Shiro led Adam up to the hospital room where Sofu was being kept.

"Hey, Sofu," Shiro said quietly, stepping in first. He saw his sofu stir and sit up in bed and rub his eyes.

"Hello, Takashi," he said slowly, coughing into his hand. "It's nice to see yo— who's this?" His gaze turned to Adam who was still hovering in the doorway. Sofu's eyes narrowed and he looked suspicious.

"Not another one of those doctors! I already took my pills! I don't want any more!" Sofu continued angrily.

"Sofu! Sofu calm down!" Shiro ordered, blocking Sofu's view of Adam with his body. "This is Adam, not a doctor. Adam is my roommate at the Garrison and he is my closest friend." Shiro stepped to the side so that Sofu could see Adam. "See? He's… he's my family."

"Eh?" Sofu said. "I'm your family."

"Yes," Shiro agreed, "But Adam's going to be my new family after…"

"Ya can just say it," Sofu grumbled. "I know I'm gonna die and I've come to terms with it. It's time you did too."

Shiro sighed and took a seat in the chair closest to the bed. He gestured for Adam to grab a nearby chair and sit next to him.

"So," Shiro started, "What was this about not taking your pills? Sofu are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Sofu snapped. "Those pills just make me drowsy and loopy and if i'm going out of this world, I don't want to be dependent on no chemicals. I want to have my own mind free."

Shiro nodded, "I know, Sofu. Those pills just make you hurt a bit less and extend your time on this world."

"My heart's giving out, I'm not slowly dying of the common cold."

Shiro shook his head, glancing at Adam who sat awkwardly close to him as though he wasn't sure that he should be here.

"So," Shiro said to change the subject, "I wanted you to say hi to Adam. Being my roommate, he and I have grown really close. He's really special to me and I care about him and he'll care about me, too."

Sofu stared at Adam, looking him over. "Hmph," he huffed. "Takashi, go out in the hallway. I want to talk to this 'Adam'."

An instant look of terror came over Adam's face. Shiro felt the terror in the silence of the room.

"Wait! Sofu!" Shiro protested.

"If he's really all you've told me then this should be no problem. I just want to see that you are well taken care of. I'd like to talk to that Samuel fellow, too."

"Um… okay," Shiro relented. He couldn't exactly deny Sofu. Not without seeming suspicious. And he wanted Sofu to go out in good conscious about Shiro. He didn't want him to be worried for his last days and weeks.

Shiro leaned down to Adam who sat frozen in fear in his chair, his body ridged and his eyes unfocused. "Hey," he whispered to his friend, "I'm sorry about this but I'm going to say: You've got this. Just be yourself and everything will be okay. I promise he isn't as scary as he makes himself out to be."

Adam raised a skeptical eyebrow but didn't question him further, which Shiro was grateful for as he left the room.

Tee next several minutes were some of the most agonizing of his life. _What are they talking about? Are they talking about me? How is Adam doing? Please don't let him mention last night. Or anything like that. They were friends. Just good friends._

Shiro eventually resorted to pacing to try to quell his anxiety.

And it seemed like a lifetime had passed before Adam opened the door and Shiro was able to come in.

Shiro studied Adam's face but couldn't read anything. He had a soft faint smile and he seemed relaxed so maybe things had gone well for him? Shiro would have to question him about it at a later time.

Sofu, also, didn't say anything when Shiro went back inside but it seemed as though some of the tension had been relieved in the room.

Grateful for the change, Shiro started telling a story about young Katie Holt that both Adam and Sofu would find amusing.

And all together, Shiro was amazed but they were able to laugh and talk and have a good time.

And when Shiro and Adam left, he didn't feel as bad about leaving Sofu.

And hopefully Sofu wouldn't feel as scared for Shiro about dying and leaving him.


	22. Fall

Hey guys.

I'm sorry.

I haven't posted in two months? dear lord.

School just got the better of me. AP tests, Finals, all of everything. So I took a break from writing.

And I just kind of had hell with my social life.

BUT! I'm doing better now and I'm hoping to get back onto my schedule and publish a lot more works coming up!

And I'm hoping this 5,000 or so word chapter of angst might help.

Sadness ahead warning.

I was going to wait on this chapter but... I've had a rough couple weeks and I needed some solid angst to help me cope so SORRY SHIRO FOR MAKING YOU SUFFER.

* * *

Adam~

The last couple weeks had gone by in a blur, each day seeming more stressful than the last.

Shiro was getting more and more anxious with every day that Sofu was still alive.

And finals were almost upon them.

Adam and Shiro had both been working overtime on their robots, running test after test. Adam was adding rubber to the grabber of his so that the object wouldn't fall when it was picked up while Shiro had small barbs that wouldn't hurt, but would hopefully hold the object in place.

Adam had recommended he use rubber, too, after Shiro admitted that Adam's idea was better than his.

But still, Shiro had stubbornly refused to change his robot, claiming that he wouldn't plagiarise Adam's idea. Which was honestly pretty nice. Even if Adam was sort of mad at him for it.

They still didn't know what their piloting final would be. Iverson had refused to share any useful information with them in order to make it a surprise, just like a flight in the attack field would be.

Math was math and Adam was doing everything he could to try to help Shiro, which incidentally gave Adam a chance to review in the process. History was history and Adam wasn't too concerned about it. Mr. Hendrick was a pretty laid back teacher.

Combat training with Admiral Sanda was rather terrifying (so was the class) but at least she had told them that they would be dueling with three partners of her choosing and you had to demonstrate all of the techniques she had taught. You didn't _have_ to win any of the matches to pass but those who did would gain extra credit.

Currently, Adam was trying to function through an average of four hours of sleep while surviving the intensive classes and his own intensive reviewing. Plus there was the added worry from Shiro's sofu.

At that moment, Shiro was gone to see Sofu and Adam was studying history— his most neglected subject.

He didn't know what to do other than let his eyes run up and down the history textbook before him, trying in vain to fight back the tired weight on his eyes and absorb any information he could.

Repeatedly he had to jolt himself up from almost being asleep on the textbook. Maybe he should close his eyes for just a minute…

"Adam?"

Adam opened his eyes, peeling his cheek off of his history textbook and lifting his head up. He knew that some time had passed and when he looked up he found Shiro's face close to his, worry written in the thin lines over his face. "Adam?" he asked sounding very concerned.

"Mmm?" Adam groaned sitting back and stretching his arms behind his back, arching his back like a cat

"... What time is it?" Shiro asked slowly.

Adam blinked, feeling foggy. "Um," Adam murmured while he looked around for some sort of clock. His eyes fell on the clock reading 9:20 P.M..

"WHAT!" He cried, leaping from his chair to look at the clock, then outside, and then his phone. It was dark outside and, indeed was 9:20 P.M.. Adam put his hands to his hair, messing it up even more than he was sure it already was messed up from falling asleep on the textbook. "How is it so late!?"

Shiro shuffled his feet, glancing shyly at Adam. "You were asleep when I got back. I figured you would want to be woken up."

"Oh," Adam muttered, shaking his head in annoyance at himself. "I… I can't believe I fell asleep."

"It's okay," Shiro said warily. "You and I have both been going on almost no sleep. Some extra rest probably did you some good."

Adam nodded, rubbing his eyes. He still felt tired.

Shiro sat down heavily on his bed, his head in his hands with his bangs pushed back in clumps and his elbows resting on his knees.

"How… how's Sofu?" Adam asked, both wanting to wake himself up so he might be able to make up some time studying and comfort Shiro.

Shiro pursed his lips but didn't reply. He looked at Adam, opened his mouth, and closed it again. "I… I'm going to get some sleep. I… tomorrow is finals and I'd just like to sleep."

Adam wanted to push further. He wanted to know.

And… they should probably study more.

Adam opened his mouth, ready to speak in protest until he thought better of it.

Shiro glanced at him and then frowned. "I'm going to go to sleep."

He turned away from Adam, moving slowly towards laying down on his pillow as though he weren't fully present. As though he didn't really know the movements he should be making to keep going.

Before Adam even knew what he was doing, he was moving towards Shiro and wrapping his arms around him from behind. Adam sat down beside Shiro, his arms holding him in place against Adam's chest. Adam buried his face into the crook of Shiro's neck, nestling his nose into the ends of Shiro's hair.

And he froze, embracing Shiro and hoping that he could provide some comfort to him.

"Adam," Shiro whispered softer than the breeze. And then he said two words that were so unfamiliar Adam didn't realize what they meant for a minute.

"Not now."

But, Adam did as he was instructed.

He pulled back.

And stepped back.

And Shiro laid down, his face facing away from Adam and his eyes already closed.

And Adam swallowed thickly, trying desperately to understand what he had done wrong.

And he turned of the light, his feet shuffling noisily in the dark.

And he sat on his bed like a robot. He watched Shiro's dark, unmoving form for a minute. Adam wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Shiro all of the thoughts that were crashing through his head. He wanted to be able to understand and help. He wanted _Shiro_ to want to be helped.

But there was nothing he could do.

And Adam felt that oppressive emptiness and helplessness like a dark shadowed companion, clutching at his head and his hands and covering his eyes.

He opened his mouth, ready to tell Shiro that he cared for him and that he wanted to make sure he was okay.

But he felt the shadowed creature put its hands over his mouth and tell him _hush_ in his ear. Obediently, Adam laid down and let his eyes stare forward, unmoving, unblinking into the darkness.

He let the shadow cover him and his mind. He let it take over and whisper its dark worries into his head while Adam waited for the sweet release of sleep to give him a second of reprive from the darknes of his mind.

Adam woke up groggily, his vision blurring as he tried to focus his eyes.

He reached out and grabbed his glasses from the side table, fitting them onto his face. He didn't remember taking them off the night before, but that didn't mean that he didn't take them off out of a force of habit.

He pushed his hands under his glasses lens to rub at his eyes, trying in vain to wake himself up.

Today was the day of the finals.

Adam huffed, forcing himself to stand up.

"Today's the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are taking a _final."_ Adam quoted jokingly, stretching his arms behind his back as he stood up. The sun didn't look like it was up yet anyway. His whole body was stiff from falling asleep in jeans. He reminded himself for the dozenth time that that was a really bad idea.

Adam paused, chastising himself for staying up so late studying before he remembered what had actually happened.

Memories of the night before came flooding back to him like a dam that had exploded. Adam snapped his eyes open and stared at Shiro's bed. Shiro's _empty_ bed.

"Shiro?" Adam said slowly, moving towards the bed. He didn't see anything especially out of the ordinary. The sheets were piled as though someone had been sleeping in them. The pillow had a slight dent where Shiro's head had been. But Shiro wasn't there.

 _He's probably in the bathroom_ , Adam told himself.

But he had a feeling he couldn't explain. He had a knot in his stomach that just _hurt_ and he was nervous and worried— much more than he normally would be.

He felt as though his insides were going to eat him inside out and he was going to shrivel up and die. Maybe at the same time that he exploded.

Each step that he took towards the bathroom felt like an eternity.

He could feel his heartbeat.

He could hear each breath like the echo of a fighter plane in a tunnel.

But he reached the door and felt like all the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

Why was he so worried?

And then his knuckle was rapping on the door.

 _Knock._

 _Knock._

 _Knock._

And yet he heard nothing.

Nothing.

And it pained him.

"Shiro?!" Adam called through the door desperately, his voice cracking.

"Shiro!" he yelled, his voice sounding hollow and shaky.

"TAKASHI!" Adam shouted, wincing as he said the name but worried enough to try _anything_.

But he heard nothing.

Tentatively, Adam reached for the handle, holding his breath.

"Shiro, I'm really worried. Are you in there?"

And yet, still, all he got was silence.

Adam took in a deep breath and then opened the door swiftly, as though he were ripping off a bandage.

But

All he saw was an empty bathroom.

Adam padded into the room, looking around and hoping that he was somehow wrong.

 _Where is Shiro?_ He wondered desperately. Maybe he had just gone to see his sofu. Maybe something had happened and Sam had come to get him in the middle of the night?

Adam pulled open his phone and texted Shiro, typing out the words he wanted to say slowly.

 **Shiro, is everything okay? Where are you? I'm really worried and I want to make sure that you're okay. Is there anything I can do to help?**

Adam was convinced he sounded too whiny and too annoying. But he was too nervous to really care about it.

He pressed send and shut down his phone, his reflection staring back at him in the black screen. He looked like a mess. But there was no time for that.

With his phone clutched in his hand, Adam ran down the hallway to find Sam's room, knocking on the door loudly in his panic. After a pause of shuffling sounds inside, the door flung open to reveal Sam with a bathrobe wrapped hastily around his pajamas. His hair was disheveled and his glasses were crooked but Adam was sure he looked no better.

"Adam?" Sam asked, panic evident in his voice. "What's wrong? Where's Shiro? What time is it?"

Adam blinked, trying to get his brain to process that Sam didn't' know where Shiro was either. "T-That's what I'm trying to figure out. I… I woke up this morning and Shiro wasn't there and… and I'm really worried." Adam could hear his voice cracking as he said the words and he knew his vision was blurring from tears forming in his eyes.

It was stupid to be this worried. He was sure that everything was fine.

But it didn't feel that way.

"I-I'm sorry," Adam muttered. "I'm just worried."

Suddenly, Sam wrapped his arms around Adam, getting down on one knee so he was a little shorter than Adam. "Don't worry. I'll help you find him."

"It's stupid," Adam scoffed at himself.

"No," Sam asserted, leaning back with his hands on Adam's shoulders so he could look him in the eyes. "You are _valid_ in your feelings and I am _sure_ Shiro will appreciate your concern. We're going to find him. I promise."

Sam leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Adam in one more hug before he stood up and started walking with Adam in toe.

He checked his phone again too see if Shiro had responded but still nothing.

"What… what happened last night?" Adam asked softly.

Sam turned his head to look at Adam and smiled without humor before turning back to the front. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Yesterday, Shiro seemed about the same. Maybe slightly more mellow than usual. But for the most part he seemed about as quiet as usual. Did he seem off last night?"

"A little," Adam admitted. "I fell asleep studying and Shiro woke me up only to tell me he was going to sleep and didn't want to talk….. I was wondering if something happened to his grandfather."

"Me too. But the Hospital won't accept calls like that at this hour."

Adam checked his phone and saw that it was, in fact, five in the morning. And that he still had no messages.

"I texted him," Adam told Sam.

"That's good. Maybe he'll respond."

"Where are we headed?" Adam asked.

"Outside. I want to see if he went somewhere to watch the sunrise. Yesterday he was talking about how you can't depend on anything but you can almost guarantee that no two sunrises will be the same. Or something like that. I honestly didn't understand all of it. It was very philosophical and intelligent."

Adam smiled, "I can see Shiro saying that. I can also see him messing up a common quote so it's almost not understandable."

"So I was thinking we would look outside," Sam told him as they rounded the corner, arriving at the doors to the outside.

"Let's split up so we can cover more ground," Adam suggested.

"Good idea. If… if you find him, either text me or come find me. Meet back here by seven at the _latest_ if we still haven't found him."

Adam remembered when Sam had had all of his students put his phone number into their phones should they ever need to contact him for any reason.

Adam reached out his hand and Sam returned it with a firm shake. "Sounds good," Adam smiled.

He couldn't help the fact that he sort of felt like a mom searching for her child who had run away. Adam felt like he should protect Shiro. He knew that Shiro could take care of himself, but that didn't change the fact that Adam wanted to be there to support him and raise him up. And, if he needed, to pull him out of the roiling waves of the ocean.

Adam searched and searched, calling out for Shiro's name and trusting that he wasn't actively trying to hide from them. But maybe he was and Adam was just making things worse.

He stopped in the middle of the parking lot and looked around, hoping he could see something.

He looked up to the top of the school building and saw a strange shape that moved. Squinting, Adam swore that it was someone up there.

Maybe it was Shiro.

Adam felt a surge of determination and took off running towards the building. He found a tree that was fairly tall and began scaling it, using skills he hadn't known he possessed to scale the wall and get high enough to leap to the edge of the building.

He pulled himself up and stood on the top of the building. Thankfully, it was a flat surface, albeit covered in leaves and grime from lack of cleaning. Slowly, Adam walked through the muck towards the edge of the building where Shiro sat, turned away from Adam with his legs dangling over the edge.

"Hey," Adam said softly, staying back from Shiro.

Shiro didn't turn around. He continued looking forward and whispered softly, "I've always wondered what it's like to fly."

"What?" Adam asked softly. "I'm sorry… I don't quite understand."

"I'm waiting for him," Shiro murmured. "He said he would come with every sun. He said that he would shine down on me like the sun."

"Shiro," Adam said, his voice cracking as he took a step forward.

"It's… it's strange," Shiro continued. "I… I know that people care about me. I… I know that You and Sam and Matt and… and… the class cares that I'm there. But… but I feel so empty. I feel like the wind could pick me up and carry me away. Let me fly."

Adam took another step forward, wanting desperately to run over and hug him.

"Adam… I just… I feel so empty," Shiro cried as he turned his head around to look at Adam.

He could see how red Shiro's face was. There were tears sliding down his eyes and his face was a mass of tear streaks and wrinkles of pain.

Without thinking about it, Adam rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Shiro.

"Adam… help me not feel empty," Shiro sobbed, a fresh bought of tears streaming down his face.

Adam didn't know what to say. He held Shiro, sitting down behind him and leaning Shiro into his chest. He clung tightly to Shiro and cried into his shirt, unable to help it.

"I… I was so worried about you," Adam whispered. "When I woke up and you weren't there, I feared for the worst."

"Sofu told me he'd be like the sun. So I wanted to watch it rise," Shiro whispered.

Adam looked up through bleary eyes at the rising sun. The sky was shifting from a navy blue to a light pink with streaks of yellow where the sun was just breaching the horizon. The clouds above had a slightly purple tinge as though they were leading into a dream. Adam almost thought it looked as though someone had painted the sky with a brush. Maybe that's what the dead did for their loved ones. Maybe they painted the sky.

Adam calmed his breath focusing on his center so that he could stop crying. So that he could be there for Shiro.

"I knew it would hurt," Shiro said softly," but I didn't know that it would hurt _this_ much. I feel like I was hit by a truck. Or like all of the happiness of my life was syphoned out of my body. All of the life."

Adam squeezed onto Shiro tighter, holding him close and letting his breath warm the back of Shiro's neck.

"Adam… I'm scared," Shiro sobbed. "I'm so scared. I… I wanted to fly. No, Adam, I wanted to _fall_. I wanted to fall down and cease to exist."

"No," Adam told him softly and then with more force, "No! Shiro, you are not alone. You have people here who care so much for you. And… if you fall, let me be here to catch you."

Shiro leaned into Adam.

"I know it's hard right now. But it'll get better and I'm here for you so you can heal. I'm here for you so you don't have to suffer alone."

"Thank you," Shiro murmured, his eyes closed. "I… I need you, Adam."

Adam smiled. "And I need you to be my friend. To be my family."

Adam let a pause of silence sink in the words he had said. He really hoped that Shiro had heard him. _Really_ heard him. And that he would listen.

"Let's watch the sunrise," Shiro said quietly.

"Okay," Adam whispered. He let go of Shiro and moved beside him, swinging his legs over the side of the roof and staring out into the distance. He leaned over and wrapped his arm around Shiro and Shiro leaned his head onto Adam's shoulder.

Together, they watched the sun rise. They watched the sky change from blue to pink to yellow and orange. They listened to the birds that began to chirp with the coming light and the shadows that lengthened under the sun.

And everything was peaceful and soft. Shiro and Adam both stopped crying, though Adam could still feel the shaky breaths that Shiro was taking to control his tears.

After a while, Adam almost felt like his eyes were drooping down. Shiro's, too, seemed to be closed and his breathing was steadied in sleep.

Adam felt a warm burst in his heart as his eyes softened towards Shiro and he leaned into him slightly. Although he knew it was stupid, Adam closed his eyes, letting his head rest on Shiro's while sleep began to take over him.

Before he could fully fall asleep, though, he felt his phone buzz frantically.

Carefully, Adam shifted so he wouldn't disturb Shiro but could get his phone. Taking a deep breath, Adam opened his phone to find numerous messages from Sam.

 **Adam? Adam, did you find him?**

 **Are you okay?**

 _ **Missed Call**_

 _ **Missed Call**_

 **Adam, I'm really worried. Please respond.**

 _ **Missed Call**_

 _Crap_. Adam felt _awful_ for forgetting to tell Sam that he had found Shiro. He could only hope that Sam would be understanding.

Quickly, Adam started messaging Sam.

 **Adam: I am so Sorry! I found Shiro. He's okay. Well, he's alive. He fell asleep on my shoulder though.**

Immediately, another response came through.

 **Sam: Thank god. I was ready to call Iverson. You can't do that to me, Adam. Where are you guys?**

Aadm gulped figuring that he was in a lot of trouble.

 **Adam: On the roof. You were right. Shiro just wanted to watch the sunset.**

 **Sam: Can you come down?**

 **Adam: Yes. I'll wake him up now.**

Adam turned to Shiro and rubbed his back as he whispered, "Shiro? Shiro? It's time to wake up, Shiro."

Shiro stirred in his sleep but didn't wake, snuggling into Adam.

"Hey, Shiro," Adam said a little louder. "It's time to get up."

"Mnh," Shiro grumbled, leaned forward slightly. Quickly, Adam reached forward and caught him, pulling him back from the edge.

"Hey, now. Don't go falling off the roof in front of me."

Shiro stirred and blinked sleepily, slowly opening his eyes and looking up to Adam. He smiled slightly and then looked out at the sunrise and the wind whistling through the trees. "It's real," he murmured.

"Come on," Adam said softly, standing up and pulling Shiro to his feet with him. "It's time to climb down from here. Then you can go back to bed."

Shiro nodded slowly. Adam knew that he wasn't just tired, despite showing signs of fatigue. He knew that Shiro was emotionally vacant. That he had had most of the feelings syphoned out of him and replaced by an emptiness that would be hard if not impossible to fill.

Adam half led, half carried Shiro over to the tree where he had climbed up.

"Shiro, I'm going to go down first and then have you follow me so I can try to catch you if you fall. Do you think that'll work? Do you think you can climb down?"

"Yeah," Shiro nodded. "I'll be okay."

Adam stepped away from him, still looking suspiciously at Shiro.

"Adam," Shiro said earnestly, "I promise I'll be okay. Don't worry."

Nodding and smiling, Adam turned away and jumped into the branches of the tree, nimbly climbing down from the roof.

He looked up at Shiro, biting his lip nervously as he waited for Shiro to drop down, preparing himself to catch him if it came to that.

But he watched as Shiro jumped into the branches of the tree and slowly climbed down from the top. As soon as he was close enough, Adam reached out his hand to help Shiro down. He took Adam's hand and Adam pulled him close into a tight hug.

"I'm proud of you," Adam whispered in his ear. Shiro nodded and stepped back, leaning on Adam as he walked with him back towards the entrance where Sam was waiting for them.

Adam looked up and met Sam's eyes, shaking his head slightly.

Sam opened his mouth and spoke slowly as though thinking through his words carefully. "How about you two take the day to rest?"

"Shouldn't Adam, at least, go to finals," Shiro whispered.

Sam closed his eyes and walked forward, wrapping both Adam and Shiro in a tight embrace. "I think that you need your family with you today. Even if you don't say anything, Shiro, I think you need to know that you are not alone and you will never be alone.

Adam smiled and nestled his head into the crook of Shiro's neck. "Yeah, I want to support you and comfort you."

Shiro smiled without humor and nodded, his face immediately falling and his eyes glazing over as he stared vacantly at the ground.

Slowly Adam shuffled forward with Shiro still in his arms. He didn't want to let Shiro feel alone for even a minute. He wanted to help Shiro and give him all of the love and support that he needed, now more than ever.

Sam walked them back until they were in sight of the dorm hallway and then he stopped. "I'm going to get to class and start setting up. But I'll explain to the teachers why you're gone. They'll understand."

Adam smiled and nodded. He could feel the warmth of gratitude blooming in his chest and he smiled slightly at Sam. "Thank you," he mouthed lightly while Sam nodded and turned to leave.

Adam led Shiro back into their dorm room and set him on the bed, closing the door softly behind him.

Adam turned back to look at Shiro. He was now sitting on his bed, staring at his feet with his arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Maybe you should try to sleep?" Adam suggested.

"I… I kind of want to be alone, Adam," Shiro whispered, his eyes darting to the side away from Adam.

"Please let me stay," Adam murmured. "I'll be quiet. I just don't want to lose you."

Shiro didn't say anything as he stared at the ground again.

Adam walked slowly towards his own bed and sat down.

"You're right," Shiro said hesitantly after a minute. "I'm weak and I need to be watched over."

"No," Adam said simply. "You are the strongest person I know, Shiro. You are going through hell and managing to survive. Do you have _any_ idea how strong you are being right now? And all of the time! You're always strong and held together. That's why it is especially okay for you to break down every once in a while."

"Adam," Shiro paused, swallowing. "Up on that building? I almost jumped. Before you arrived. Do you know how terrifying that is? I-I never want to feel like that again," Shiro cried as he put his hands to his face and his shoulders shook with tears.

Adam stood up and walked over towards Shiro. He sat down next to him and held him in his arms once again.

"Your hugs are so warm," Shiro murmured. "They keep me grounded on this earth."

Adam held Shiro closer and gently pressed his lips to Shiro's forehead in a soft kiss like his mom used to do when she was trying to comfort him.

"I will always keep you grounded, if you want me to," Adam told Shiro. "I'm sorry to say but it's going to be harder than that to get rid of me."

Shiro smiled softly. "Just stay with me for today."

Adam nodded. "I would want nothing else."

Together, the spent the day watching movies on Adam's computer and curled up together until the both fell asleep and dozed for a few hours.

It was peaceful and calming and exactly what Shiro needed.

And Adam felt awful that Shiro had to go through it himself, but he still felt happy that he had been there.

That he was able to help.

Because if he hadn't been there, Adam wasn't sure what would have happened to Shiro but he had a inkling that he wouldn't be there for Adam to rest his head on anymore.

Adam couldn't stand that thought.

* * *

Thank you to everyone's nice comments.

Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story.

Thank you for keeping me around.


	23. Gone

Shiro~

Shiro was there again. He was talking to Sofu. He was telling him more stupid stuff than usual this time, though.

Scratch that.

He had talked to him like normal. He had talked about weird things he knew didn't really matter all that much. Shiro remembered venting about the finals that were coming and being so happy that Adam was there to help him study and learn what in the world he was supposed to be doing.

Shiro was also happy that Sofu had stayed awake for the majority of that time.

But now, Shiro saw Sofu starting to fade away, like he was already a ghost who had stayed in this world too long.

"I'll be okay," Shiro replied to his questions.

But Sofu shook his head.

"Really!" Shiro protested.

And then, Sofu started to cry. In Shiro's mind he was looking intently at Shiro before he turned his head away, too afraid and sad to be able to comfort him.

And then a white being with a blindfold over their eyes, a long white robe, elongated features, and two long swords strapped to their waist appeared and reached towards Sofu with clawed hands and no sympathy. Shiro cried and clung to Sofu, wishing the entire time that he could hold him just a bit longer.

But a dark shadow wrapped around him and pulled him away.

"NO!" he screamed, clinging to Sofu. "Stay with me!"

But Sofu merely looked at him and shook its head.

The darkness closed around Shiro, cutting his arm away from Sofu and plunging him into torment and shadows.

 _This is where you'll rest. This is where you'll stay. In the dark. Alone. Forever,_

a haunting scaly voice chanted to him.

"NO!"

"PLEASE!" Shiro cried, holding himself and feeling the worst emptiness he had ever felt in his life.

"Adam," Shiro whispered. But no one replied.

...

"Shiro? Shiro are you... What's wro- How can I help?" Adam asked, fumbling over his words.

Shiro blinked his eyes open and stared at Adam before him.

Beautiful, caring, wonderful Adam.

Without thinking about it, Shiro leapt out of bed and hugged Adam. He could feel the tears that were running down his face but he found that he didn't particularly care. The shadows were gone, lost to whatever dream or nightmare he had been having and now Shiro was free.

And Adam didn't ask any questions. He didn't make Shiro explain himself. He didn't force him to talk.

And Shiro appreciated that more than he could ever put words to.

Gently, Adam rubbed small circles into Shiro's back while he held him. Shiro had never had a caring parent who would comfort him as a mother would comfort a sick child, but if he had, he imagined this is how it would have felt and the thought is comforting to him. Sofu had his own way of comforting. One where they would find the worst movie they could and watch it and laugh.

After a minute, Shiro quietly pulls back, sniffling and wiping at his eyes like he's eight years old and fell and hurt his knee.

But Adam doesn't force him to answer any questions, only looks at him with concern and... and love. Adam is Shiro's family. And Shiro would never trade him for anyone else.

"I dreamt... I dreamt that he was dying again... but I was all alone afterwards." Shiro said softly.

He remembered how it had _really_ happened. He remembered talking to Sofu about life, like in his dream. But then Sofu told him he was getting tired and Shiro asked if he could stay just a bit longer and keep talking to him.

Sofu agreed and Shiro waited until he had fallen asleep to start whispering his doubts and fears. He told Sofu about how much he was going to miss him and how he didn't know what he was going to do without him. He told Sofu about how much Adam meant to him and how caring and kind he was.

He told Sofu about his plans for the future.

And Sofu woke up groggily and told him that he had always wanted to ride the sun. That way no one would look at him, they would all complain about him, but he could watch everyone's lives day to day without needing to pause. He could watch the seasons and the weather and the changes to this world. And everyone would need him, whether they liked it or not.

"I like that," Shiro told him quietly. "then I'll always know when you are watching and warming me."

He leaned down and gave Sofu a gentle hug before he closed his eyes again.

Shiro sat in silence before he heard a soft _Beeeeeeeep_ His eyes jolted open and he looked at the heart monitor. The heart monitor with a straight red line and flashing red lights.

And that was the moment that the world ended for Shiro.

Doctors rushed in and told him to wait in the hallway.

He sobbed outside, hoping that there was some way that he could be saved for half of a minute more.

But then a subdued doctor came out and told Shiro what had happened.

And Shiro screamed. He sobbed. He ran into the room and put his arms around Sofu. "NO! NO! You can't be gone! You can't! I need... I need you, Sofu!"

...

As Shiro was busy reliving that moment in his mind, more tears falling from his eyes, Adam leaned forward and brushed Shiro's bangs out of his eyes before using his thumbs as a way to wipe the tears off of Shiro's cheeks.

The act jogged Shiro out of the flashback and he let Adam hold him and take care of him. He nestled his head into Adam.

He couldn't be more content. If, even a few months ago, this had happened, Shiro wouldn't have had anyone. He would have gone into foster care.

He wouldn't be at the Garrison.

And he wouldn't know Adam.

"Thank you, Adam," Shiro whispered trying his best to put all of the emotions he was feeling into those words.

And Adam said nothing, merely holding Shiro's hand and keeping him close. Like he understood.

Because somehow he knew exactly what to do for Shiro when he was grieving and still in shock and anger.

Somehow, Adam knew that it would be okay, even if Shiro wasn't so sure.


	24. Lean

Note:

((((o—(^ 0 ^)—o))))

ANOTHER CHAPTER? Already?

I know. I no longer have a life. ^_^*

.

* * *

Adam~

The next few weeks were hard.

 _So hard_.

Every single day, Adam felt for Shiro.

He was like a lost soul, looking for somewhere to call home.

Sam visited often.

Adam spent every chance he could with Shiro.

But he still had to go back to make up his classes. Adam was thankful for the short winter break, though, because it meant that he had time to pause and comfort Shiro.

A couple of days after it had happened, Admiral Sanda called Adam in to talk about all of his finals that he and Shiro had missed. She asked him to make up his own finals in math and history and Shiro would make up his own later, but that they would be allowed to complete their combat and flight simulation tests together.

When Adam had walked back inside of their room to tell Shiro the good news, he had noticed the little robotic contraption that he had made for his final. Actually, his was sitting right next to Shiro's, both waiting for the finishing touches and both waiting to be tested.

Multiple times, Shiro had caught Adam crying when he thought Shiro was asleep. Shiro would always ask him why he was crying and Adam would never reply honestly.

Because... how could he say that he was crying _for_ Shiro. He missed Sofu through Shiro missing Sofu. He felt Shiro's pain. His emptiness. His loss.

And all Adam could do was try to be there for him and comfort him as he wished him to. Adam had to be whole so that Shiro wouldn't break and shatter.

So that Adam could catch him and put him back together every time he broke down.

Adam was also _so thankful_ to Sam for being so understanding and helpful. He was the one who helped keep both Adam and Shiro in the Garrison when Admiral Sanda might have kicked them out.

Matt and Lilli both stopped by a few times to talk to Adam and shiro and offer their condolences.

At one point, Adam sat down with the next Percy Jackson book and read to Shiro late into the night until his throat was sore and he could barely talk. But it was all worth it to see the smile on Shiro's face.

Adam supposed it was nice that they were on a sort of winter break after the Finals before they started anything new. They were supposed to be confirmed whether or not they were admitted into their area of choice around this time. But that was based on test scores that neither Adam nor Shiro had.

But, despite everything... Adam found the hardest part to be not seeing his own family.

Shiro was at _ZERO_ fault for feeling awful and ghostly.

But he wasn't himself.

And Adam had planned to visit his family over winter break again.

But he wasn't even fully welcomed home. His sisters had texted him wondering how he was doing and how he was with Shiro before recommending that he just stay with Shiro as things were pretty rough with the divorce.

That was the other reason Adam was caught crying.

His family was breaking apart and he was left in the dust.

His best friend- only friend (except for Matt... and maybe Lilli)- was breaking to pieces. And he felt helpless. He wasn't even sure that he was wanted anywhere.

And to top everything off, Adam had lost his glasses.

It was five days into break, he had made up some of his tests and Shiro was feeling barely better. Christmas was three days away.

And Adam had lost his glasses.

And it's hard to find something when you can't see very well.

Shiro walked into the room (he left to go talk to Sam about testing) to find Adam with his butt in the air as he tried his best to crawl under his bed in search of his glasses.

"Adam?" Shiro said curiously. "Why are you on the floor?"

Adam was so startled, he tried to stand up immediately, banging his head into the bed frame above him. "OW!" He cried, wincing as he came out from under the bed. "I'm trying to find my stupid glasses," Adam sighed while he rubbed the back of his head.

Adam watched as Shiro smiled ever so slightly, dropped his school bag on his bed, and got down on his hands and knees to look with Adam.

"Shiro?" Adam said, too surprised to respond properly.

"I figure you can't find your glasses when you can't very well see," Shiro said softly before he ducked under the bed, leaving Adam sitting on his knees dumbfounded.

While Shiro was under the bed, he started talking slowly. "Adam... I appreciate... you are so much more amazing than words can describe."

Adam didn't know what to say. He was at a loss for words. He wanted to tell Shiro how strong he was and how proud Adam was of him for getting through all of these emotions but he couldn't seem to find the words.

"You... you've been here for me. Through every painful minute. You've been here to help me and give me... give me the home I needed."

Adam could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Each word was such a gratifying and appreciated sentiment.

"You... You've helped me so much. And I don't think that words can ever describe the gratitude I feel for you because I don't think that there's any way that someone like you can exist. You took me in. You gave me... you gave me a new life. A reason to keep going."

Adam could hear Shiro gulp as he paused. Slowly, he retreated from under the bed, Adam's glasses in his hands. Shiro gently took the glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his shirt before he leaned forward and gently placed the glasses on Adam's face, his fingers lingering at the edge of the frames. As soon as the lenses were on his face, Adam saw the world more clearly. And he could see that Shiro was crying. A steady stream of tears were slipping down his face.

Slowly, Shiro's hands pulled back from Adam's face and settled in his lap.

"So... what I'm trying to say," Shiro continued softly, "Is that I... I really appreciate everything that you've done for me. You... you've changed my world." As he finished, he looked up at Adam and gave him a soft smile.

Adam blinked and felt a splatter on his hand. He looked down to find a drop of water running off of his skin and then slowly reached up towards his face, feeling the stream of tears. He hadn't even known he was crying.

And he didn't know what to say. Shiro had said some of the sweetest things to him and Adam couldn't think of his own words to say. "Shiro... you... you mean the world to me as your friend. I could... I can't fathom losing you. It would be the worst pain in the ... all of the pain that you are going through, I want to go through it with you. I want to... I want to be there for you. Always."

Shiro smiled at him. He smiled the most genuine smile he had smiled in weeks. Slowly, he stood up, wiping at the tears on his face before offering a hand to help Adam stand up.

Adam took his hand and Shiro led him back to his bed where they sat down together. Adam didn't want Shiro to let go of his hand, but he wasn't surprised when Shiro did. Slowly, Shiro reached for his computer from his school bag."Unless you have anything you need to be doing, I was thinking we could watch one of my favorite Christmas movies?"

"And what movie might that be?" Adam asked, settling himself back against the wall.

"You'll see." Shiro placed loaded up the movies he had saved on his computer ad Adam waited until he saw the logo for _Elf_ pop up.

"I love this movie!" Adam cheered.

"Good! We're watching it." Shiro pressed play on the movie and settled back against the wall.

Adam glance at Shiro at the exact moment that Shiro glanced at him. Shiro tilted his head slightly and then moved a bit closer so his shoulder was brushing against Adam's.

"Thank... thank you again, Adam for... for being there for me to lean on. Both emotionally and physically."

Adam smiled and leaned into Shiro, resting his head on Shiro's shoulder slightly, "I'm happy to... because I know that when I need it, you'll be right there to lean back."


End file.
